Introducing the OBJ Data Centre.
Now Ottawa Business Journal readers can gain exclusive access to news and data through one powerful subscription. The Data Centre includes dozens of industry lists to help you better understand the local economy. Sign up your work group and reap the benefits, including online news, reports, magazines and the new OBJ Data Centre. www.obj.ca/subscribe
TELEPHONE
Phone: 613-696-9494
News Fax: No faxes, email editor@obj.ca
PUBLISHER
Michael Curran, 613-696-9491 publisher@obj.ca
PUBLISHER
KINGSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
Terry Tyo, 613-696-9581 terry@greatriver.ca
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Anne Howland, 613-696-9480 anne@obj.ca
SENIOR WRITER
David Sali, 613-696-9481 david@obj.ca
REPORTERS
Sarah MacFarlane, 613-696-9492 news@obj.ca
Mia Jensen, 613-696-9501 mia@obj.ca
VICE-PRESIDENT SALES AND MARKETING Victoria Stewart, 613-696-9484 victoria@obj.ca
CONTENT MARKETING MANAGER
Kate Chappell, 613-696-9482 kate@obj.ca
ADVERTISING SALES
General inquiries, 613-696-9494 sales@obj.ca
Wendy Baily, 613-696-9483 wbaily@obj.ca
Cindy Cutts, 613-696-9580 cindy@obj.ca
Eric Dupuis, 613-696-9485 eric@obj.ca
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Tanya Connolly-Holmes, 613-696-9487 creative@greatriver.ca
DESIGN DEPARTMENT
Celine Paquette, 613-696-9486 celine@greatriver.ca
Deborah Ekuma, 613-696-9493 deborah@greatriver.ca
FINANCE
Cheryl Schunk, 613-696-9490 cheryl@greatriver.ca
PRINTED BY Transcontinental Transmag 10807 Rue Mirabeau, Anjou, QC H1J 1T7
DISTRIBUTED BY Comet 2000
There’s a lot to
Welcome to the first edition of the Kingston Business Journal. This issue features our Fastest Growing Companies program, along with other interesting stories from around the business community
It’s been a pleasure for me to learn more about the vibrant city that is Kingston. I’m not a complete stranger, having lived there for two years while completing my MBA at Queen’s University. But fast forward 30 (yikes!) years and put the lens on the business community, and there were many new things for me to absorb.
Of course, the situation with the LaSalle Causeway has been and will continue to be an interesting one to follow. Equally interesting to me was the story of the need for an increased police presence in downtown Kingston, as it echoes much of what is happening in Ottawa. The pros and cons of Homecoming also resonated, as someone who used to partake.
Here’s hoping we’ve captured a good cross-section of stories for this first issue. Many thanks to Phil Gaudreau for his bootson-the-ground perspective and knowledge.
It’s almost impossible not to be intrigued by the businesses listed in our Fastest Growing Companies feature. This is the third year we’ve run this program in Eastern Ontario, and it does not disappoint.
It’s true that the huge highs and lows and the gripping drama of the COVID era are in the rearview mirror. But what impresses me now is how these fast-growing companies continue to learn from those experiences and apply many of the lessons as they move forward.
In fact, it sounds a bit obvious, but the idea of continuous improvement was my big takeaway from this year’s crop of fastest-growing companies. I loved their
often brutally honest admissions of mistakes made. Their reflections on what they learned. And, above all, their passion for continuing, for persevering, for moving forward better than ever.
This was a good comment from Kemptville Heating & AC: “When I first started the business I jumped the gun and got too big too fast and it backfired on me. I realized quickly that I lacked the skills needed to manage several employees.” The lesson? “Don’t try to grow too fast. Never put the cart in front of the horse.”
Or how about this from GlassHouse Botanics: “Everything takes at least twice as long and four times as much capital than expected.” What to do? “We hired the right leaders and a team that worked tirelessly to reach our goals.”
Themes of adaptability, flexibility, planning and pivoting emerged. As well as hard truths acknowledged. For example, this
from J&J Landscaping: “Not everyone will support your decisions or your company.” Or this from Brock IT: “Written agreements are the only thing that matter, so you must protect yourself and your business with written expectations.”
I think this line from The Bar really summed it up: “Not everything worked out the way we wanted, but we kept at it by changing a little bit here and a little bit there.”
To me, this type of mindset is typical of a true entrepreneur, someone who has as many (if not more) mistakes and missteps as outright successes. But instead of acting as a deterrent, these missteps only serve to fuel the fire and the desire to do it better the next time. So, hats off to all our fastest-growing companies. As I’ve learned myself, there are few challenges or hurdles that are not also fabulous opportunities.
Anne Howland Editor in Chief
MARCH 30
Causeway damaged during construction and closed
MAY 15
Causeway partially reopened to pedestrians and cyclists
MAY 28
Announcement of demolition
JUNE 21
Demolition completed
SEPT. 19
Temporary bridge installation begins
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
With a temporary bridge at the LaSalle Causeway only able to let larger vessels through from the harbour into the St. Lawrence River sporadically, marine operators in Kingston are expecting to incur additional losses during the time the temporary structure is in place.
The lift bridge that originally formed part of the causeway was damaged during construction in March 2024 and closed for several months for repair. In May, the federal government, which operates the bridge, decided to demolish the structure. In September, a temporary bridge was put in place.
The temporary bridge will be removed and reinstalled two times this fall, allowing access by larger boats. During a normal boating season, which runs between April and November, the federally-owned bridge would lift as many as eight times a day at preset times and based on demand.
A Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) spokesperson said consultations are underway to determine the frequency and schedule of marine access periods for the 2025 navigation season and beyond. Previous communication from PSPC to local boat operators suggested the schedule would be available at the end of 2024.
“If you read the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, you see these waterways carry commerce and culture and are at the heart
You can’t describe a waterway as navigable by unblocking it once a month.
Eric Ferguson, general manager, Kingston Destination Group
of who we are,” said Eric Ferguson, general manager of Kingston Destination Group (KDG), which operates cruises on the St. Lawrence. “You can’t describe a waterway
OCT. 14
Bridge installation expected to conclude
OCT. 15
First bridge lift of 2024
as navigable by unblocking it once a month.”
It’s estimated that the cost to remove and reinstall the temporary bridge could be as high as $500,000 each time. A PSPC spokesperson said the rental of the temporary modular bridge was valued at $3.9 million, “including the two timelimited marine access windows for marine navigation traffic before the end of the 2024 navigation season.”
Tour boat operators such as KDG suffered financial losses as a result of the bridge closure in the spring when they lost access to boats that were stuck in the harbour and had to cancel cruises, scuttle contracts and lay off staff.
They’re now anticipating further lost revenues over the three years that the temporary bridge is expected to be in place, though the uncertain lift schedule makes planning difficult.
The restricted access also represents a safety issue, as larger vessels will not be able to regularly access the facilities at the Davis Dry Dock. The next closest dry docks are in Hamilton and Quebec City.
“Workboats, ferry boats, boats from New York state, Coast Guard ships — they’re coming to Kingston to the Davis Dry Dock,” said Ferguson. “That represents economic activity. You can’t shut off access to the world like that.”
Next door to the dry dock at MetalCraft Marine, Bob Clark, contracts manager, said the company is planning its manufacturing contracts for larger boats over the next few years to ensure those boats are ready
NOV. 15
Second and final bridge lift for 2024
MAY 15
First anticipated bridge lift of 2025
to leave harbour on the days when the temporary bridge is lifted.
Beyond marine-based operators, downtown Kingston businesses lost out on foot traffic from local customers who skipped shopping due to longer commute times and revenue from tourists who cancelled travel plans. A May estimate by Kingston Accommodation Partners (KAP) suggested the damage to the Kingston tourism sector related to the bridge closure was $15 million.
In June, Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen called for compensation for affected businesses. He has since reversed course and is instead encouraging affected businesses to contact their insurance providers.
Representatives from PSPC have told the boat lines that the federal government has no mechanism for offering compensation.
Daniel Beals, marketing manager with St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, said a full accounting of costs is being tallied and noted that several affected companies, including his employer and KDG, plan to take the federal government to court over the issue.
“The elephant in the room is that PSPC has not started an investigation to establish fault for the original damage (which occurred during construction work),” said Clark. “If they did that, we’d be negotiating with the engineering firm’s insurance company and PSPC would not be on the hook to open the bridge. Instead, taxpayers are going to be on the hook.”
UK-based UNDO partners with Canadian Wollastonite to scale carbon capture through rock weathering, boosting local agriculture and driving sustainable innovation in Eastern Ontario.
Kingston, Ontario is establishing itself as a climate tech pioneer with the arrival of UNDO, a multinational corporation that is forging a path with its carbon removal solutions.
UNDO, an England-based firm, uses cutting-edge technology to remove carbon dioxide emissions from the environment through rock weathering.
UNDO is partnering with Kingston-based company Canadian Wollastonite (CW), which will provide the relatively rare mineral. A seam of wollastonite runs through the region, and after it is mined by Canadian Wollastonite, the mineral will then be spread upon farmland in Eastern Ontario through partnerships with local farmers.
The company is aiming to remove one million
tonnes of carbon from the environment by 2025. Spreading 50,000 tonnes of Wollastonite in Eastern Ontario “has the potential to capture a greater amount of CO2 than all projects that are operating in North America combined,” says CW’s president Bob Vasily.
The investment will also see UNDO forge a research relationship with local universities like Queen’s University.
“This is a win-win on so many levels,” says Donna Gillespie, CEO of Kingston Economic Development. “We have new foreign direct investment looking at the Kingston area in choosing to set up their first operational facility. We’ve got a local company forging a great new partnership on a very scalable initiative for erosion rock weathering, and both Canadian
Wollastonite and UNDO are looking at spreading in field trials the wollastonite mineral onto Eastern Ontario farmland to do record analysis validation of carbon renewal,” she says. In addition, there is another win for the farmers, as the wollastonite improves the soil pH and then improves the yield of the farmland. It also lowers costs by reducing the purchase of silica-based fertilizers.
The ultimate win will occur on the largest scale possible, which is, through UNDO’s leading technology, CW’s mined resources and Kingston’s infrastructure and surrounding farmlands, permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere and being part of the climate emergency solution.
“This is such an exciting, scalable venture, and it’s helping to put us on the map for climate tech and building on the City of Kingston’s values of being the most sustainable city in Canada.”
Rock weathering technology takes the wollastonite mineral, crushes it finely and spreads it onto soil. This process hardens the earth, so that when rain falls, the soil is better able to capture carbon permanently, explains Vasily.
“What might take hundreds of years to naturally break down, we’re seeing in one and two and three years now. And it’s very attractive because the process of breaking these minerals down releases a lot of other benefits that are beneficial for growing crops for farmers,” he says.
Chris Zair, head of partnerships at UNDO, says his company appreciates the vote of confidence the Kingston region has put in the technology, as well as the potential of the landscape. The company has 67 FTEs overall, which include nine full-time employees based in the Kingston area, including an operations manager, field techs lab coordinator and lab techs.
The support provided by Kingston Economic Development was also a selling point. “The kind of the support that we had since day one has been incredible,” Zair says, adding that the support from the local business community has been amazing, as well as the relationships with educational institutions. “It was really clear that this is a really ripe area for investment for UNDO and setting up our business.”
The potential to replicate the model elsewhere is also on the radars of everyone involved, which will bring this exciting, cutting-edge technology to a global audience and tackle the current climate emergency. In a signal of confidence in UNDO’s technology, the company recently announced a second deal with Microsoft to remove 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide funding for crucial scientific research in the erosion rock weathering field. UNDO has previously established a relationship with Microsoft, which began in 2023 with a contract to remove 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Dr. Wael Abuzeid
Kingston Health Sciences Centre
Sebastian AlamilloFalkenberg
RxN Hub
Adam Allore
Wavve Boating
Jennifer Baker
Jennifer Baker Consulting
Rachel Baker, Ph.D.
Queen’s University
Marco Bassendowski
mb Prototyping Ltd
Jessica Bredschneider
St. Lawrence College
Ian (Rowena Whey)
Burns
Performer/Activist
Dr. Scott Compeau
BGC South East
Radford Cowan
Knifey Spooney
Marina Darling
Queen’s University
Dr. Kevin De France
Queen’s University
Kaitlyn del Rosario
Providence Care
Rachel Doornekamp
The Inclusive Play Project
Sophie Anna Felleiter
Queen’s University
Gerhard Freundorfer
Spark at St. Lawrence College
Liv Halliday
Benjamin Hotels, BPE Group
Hesam Hassan Nejad
Ph.D., P.Eng., RCIC
Parsam Immigration Services Inc.
Glenn Hendry
Pinchin Ltd.
Lucas Heney
James Media
Céline Klein
Jamstone Productions
investkingston.ca/youngprofessionals
Jenna Knight
Jenna Knight Strategy Co. & Women Making Impact
Ksenia Knyazeva
Patriam Coffee
Yu Jier Kou
Kingston Immigration Partnership
Dr. Alanna Kuhn
Sauer, ND
Natural Route Health Inc.
Morgan Lehtinen, Ph.D.
RxN Hub
Erica McIlquham
Queen’s University & Livingston Co
Jenna Morley
Loopstra Nixon LLP
Michele Morningstar
Queen’s University
Colin Morris
Kingston Frameworks
Dr. Rebecca Palmer
Bayridge Animal Hospital
Erin Peterson
Distributive
Lisa Petrie Petrie Ford
Abdul Razak Jendi
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
Holly Ryan art by Holly Ryan
Zach Skolnick
ABNA Investments Ltd.
Lindsay Stoness St. Lawrence College
Kelsey Tucker
Providence Care
Allison Turner, P.Eng PnuVax
Hill Werth
Slow & Intentional
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
The 10 most common crimes in Kingston’s downtown core occurred about 40 per cent less frequently this past summer when compared to the previous two summers, according to statistics from the Kingston Police Service.
This is attributed to increased investment by the Kingston Police Service, city bylaw services, and members of the Downtown Kingston Business Improvement Area (BIA) to help ensure safety in the area through an initiative dubbed Boots on the Ground.
In 2023, BIA staff and members met with city council and the police service to discuss “mental health and addiction challenges, overnight camping in vestibules, open drug use, and crime” in major downtown commercial areas. Long response times from officers, who often had to drive from other parts of the city, were highlighted as contributing to the problem.
In response, the city provided $50,000 from the police budget to hire a downtown foot patrol officer for one year, with BIA members providing an equal amount. The officer, who started in the new role in late May, is backed up by a half-time liaison officer who was already assigned to the downtown core.
City bylaw also assigned more resources as part of an updated Community Standards Bylaw and the BIA’s Welcoming Streets initiative expanded to include a full-time and part-time steward, who help individuals who are unhoused or experiencing addiction issues to be aware of appropriate services.
These changes were part of a BIA initiative called Boots on the Ground, which sought to respond to the uptick in crime and safety issues through a timelier response, while diverting non-crime situations away from a police response.
“Members were very frustrated last summer at the height of challenging behaviour,“ said Marijo Cuerrier, executive director of the BIA. “The response from members to these changes has been pretty positive.”
Kingston Police Service numbers provided by the BIA show incidents related to shoplifting and mischief in the downtown core in May declined
significantly year-over-year. The trend continued through June and July.
The types of crimes being reported have also changed. Cuerrier cited officers checking in with new faces downtown or observing unusual behaviour and discovering individuals with active warrants, concealed weapons, or dealing drugs.
“Having an officer down here as part of the community who knows the regulars helps a lot,” she said.
The model of an officer whose salary is funded in part by business owners — mainly downtown landlords and property managers — was intended as a one-year pilot. Cuerrier hopes the success will convince the Kingston Police Service to fully fund the position when it comes up for renewal.
When asked if the one-year pilot would be renewed, a police spokesperson said a decision on the program would be made closer to the conclusion of the pilot.
Jay Abramsky, a BIA member, called the program essential to the continued success of Kingston’s downtown core.
“We need to be looking after all in our community, including the most vulnerable,” he said.
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
All of the business park land in Kingston is currently under negotiation with companies looking to establish themselves in the city or expand operations, according to an official with the Kingston Economic Development Corp.
While economic conditions have some businesses proceeding with caution, Shelley Hirstwood, the agency’s director of business development, said the city is experiencing the highest level of foreign direct investment (FDI) interest she has seen in the past 12 years.
“These companies are either late stage in the site selection process or site due diligence,” she said. “I never say a deal is done until the ink is on the paper ... The reality is, we have a very healthy pipeline of companies that we’re working with.”
That growth in interest has been accompanied by a change in the types of organizations looking to do business in Kingston and the surrounding regions. While businesses in the electric vehicle sector have grabbed most of
the headlines, there is also significant interest from the life sciences sector, she said. Sustainable manufacturing and health innovation are the two current industry focus areas for the agency.
Also, while Hirstwood said most businesses used to look for six to 10 acres before the pandemic, recent interest in Kingston business park land has been in the range of 20 to 40 acres.
Hirstwood credits several factors for the boom in FDI, including increased national and provincial focus on economic development and company attraction, the $46 billion invested into the EV sector by various levels of government, the province’s life sciences strategy, and the increase in “friendshoring” and onshoring driven by “buy North American” policies.
Kostas Doulas, broker with local commercial real estate agency Rogers & Trainor, said interest from logistics companies looking to locate within Kingston remains high due to the city’s proximity to major markets and the higher cost of locating in Toronto. However, local interest has waned in the last year, he said.
“Recession talk has caused
corporates to rethink expansion or put it on pause, which affects smaller markets like ours,” he said. “The high cost of construction and interest rates are also playing a factor, but the biggest factor is definitely the slowdown in consumer spending.”
James Ward, also a broker with Rogers & Trainor, noted local commercial rents have increased substantially in recent years due to the overflow from businesses not wanting to locate in Toronto. He said there was still solid demand for smaller warehouses and commercial spaces around the 3,000-square-foot mark, particularly among the smaller industrial and trades companies they work with, and that in general the supply of warehouse space and commercial condos is finally catching up to local demand.
City council recently accepted a report recommending an urban boundary expansion that would add a minimum of 988 acres of land by 2051. Just over 800 of those acres would be dedicated to businesses in the warehousing, distribution, transportation and construction sectors.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way to protect your business
The recently expanded team at Veritasa Law wants to see more business owners protecting themselves and their families through incorporation and Wills.
Kingston based Veritasa Law Office Professional Corporation has merged with Brockville based Culic Law and both continue to operate under the Veritasa Law name. Culic Law is the present day continuation of a law practice originally started in 1803, making it one of the oldest continuously in existence law firms in Canada. Veritasa Law is a Law Society approved Professional Corporation created by Clinton Culic for the purpose of expanding his law practice into Kingston initially, with more locations coming. The combined team now serves an area from Coburg to Cornwall with practical solutions for business law issues, including estate planning - whether for expansion or transition. Brennan acknowledges retirement or other business transitions can be difficult and highly personal. She says the team’s open and forthright communication process is central to their approach, creating harmony and mitigating stress during difficult transitions. She sees their role as problem solvers, helping businesses to manage challenges like their tax liabilities and
ensure they can take their best next steps.
Beyond transition planning, Veritasa also helps strengthen businesses by ensuring they appropriately mitigate their risk. Clint Culic, Senior Lawyer with Veritasa, noted many business owners don’t incorporate, leaving the owner, their family, and their assets at risk.
“Many businesses are operating inefficiently under limited liability partnerships or as family businesses,” said Culic. “We work with a lot of businesses seeking to incorporate to protect their family and their assets, and it’s important to know it’s never too late to incorporate.”
Another common myth the Veritasa team encounters is that most business owners in Ontario don’t know their business can have its own Will, known as a corporate or secondary Will. Establishing such a Will saves the inheritors of a business time and money while protecting the privacy of those involved.
“Your business continuity plan should be in place from day one,” noted Brennan. “We recently encountered a situation where a spouse
who managed all of the money passed away suddenly at a young age leaving a commonlaw spouse with no access to the accounts and no power of attorney. These situations create unnecessary taxes and stress, but the good news is they are avoidable.”
The merger brings Culic’s more than 40 years of legal experience into a dynamic team environment focused on truth – veritas is Latin for truth – and service to their clients. The Veritasa team offers a range of business, estate, and real estate legal services and, through a referral partner specializing in family-owned businesses, can also assist with tax planning for businesses.
More of Culic’s collective decades of wisdom and experience will be shared through the launch of a biweekly call-in show on YourTV Kingston.
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
The annual Homecoming weekend at Queen’s University has its fans and its detractors, but many in Kingston agree that it’s good business.
“Hotels sell out months in advance and some alumni groups even book a year in advance,” said Krista LeClair, executive director of Kingston Accommodation Partners (KAP). “We’re always excited to work with Queen’s on Homecoming, especially since that time of year is often when leisure travel dips.”
“Larger groups begin booking tables months out, and we’re fully booked a month in advance,” added Tim Pater, owner of Black Dog Hospitality Group, which includes four downtown restaurants. “We staff up and try to keep our patios open and heated for extra space.”
NEW: Comfort Inn & Suites Kingston Central, Hampton Inn Kingston East, The Belvedere Hotel
NEW NAMES AND RENOS: Kingston Marriott, Hilton Doubletree, Quality Inn & Conference Centre, Strata Hotel
CLOSED: Travelodge Kingston
KAP and organizations such as Tourism Kingston see Homecoming as an opportunity to advertise what the city has to offer and inspire future visits by alumni. They try to connect with alumni who may be event planners, film directors and site selectors for major companies.
Outside of the formal Homecoming activities, where businesses such as
Allan Graphics and Purtell Cartage work with the university to execute the event, alumni holding reunion meetups with former classmates book blocks of rooms at hotels and hold their own events at local restaurants.
Queen’s Homecoming 2024 will be held Oct. 18-21. This year’s agenda includes alumni-led events at restaurants
including The Grizzly Grill, AquaTerra and The University Club at Queen’s (a separate organization from the university), as well as The Frontenac Club.
“Generally, the demand is for twonight stays at least at our hotel,” said Sean Billing, general manager of The Frontenac Club. “In addition to driving the hotel rooms, that obviously drives a tremendous amount of business in restaurants, both our restaurant as well as other restaurants. If you want to eat at four or at 11, you probably could, but otherwise I think it would be a tough time to get a table. There’s also demand for events like cocktail receptions or group lunches, so Homecoming really does touch on all aspects of our business.”
Billing said he already has Homecoming bookings at The Frontenac Club for 2025 and 2026, with hold requests for 2027.
At other hotels across the city, it’s a similar story. Reports from Smith Travel Research for Kingston indicate close to 90 per cent of rooms were occupied for the Friday and Saturday of Homecoming in 2023 and 2019, the last two in-person Homecoming events, despite the rates on those days being higher on average by 30 per cent than typical Fridays and Saturdays in October.
Local vendors and food trucks will participate in a Fall Harvest Gathering on the Saturday of Homecoming weekend. The Queen’s Gaels men’s football home game is usually another key part of the agenda, attracting crowds of about 8,000 people to Richardson Stadium.
And what awaits alumni when they return to their hotel? Queen’s branding, themed chocolate, gift bags, discounts, and invitations to local events and concerts, all enticing alumni to shop local and to return.
Even servers and wait staff get scarves, hats or other Queen’s merch — the town gets “painted in Queen’s colours,” Pater said.
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
Local business leaders and officials remain optimistic about the electric vehicle market in the Kingston area, despite the delayed construction of Umicore’s plant in Loyalist Township.
Umicore announced the pause in August due to a “downturn” in the EV market, as well as other factors including delays in establishing domestic mines and relevant supply chains. When complete, the plant will manufacture cathode active materials and precursor cathode active material, which are critical components
for producing EV batteries.
The original plans were to employ up to 600 workers with a construction cost of approximately $2.8 billion, including $1 billion in contributions from the federal and Ontario governments. That money is currently on hold until construction on the plant progresses.
Despite Umicore’s pullback, which comes on the heels of the 2023 exit of lithium-ion recycler Li-Cycle from the Kingston area, government and privatesector investment in the North American EV supply chain continues to support several businesses in the Kingston region.
The Goodyear Tires plant in Napanee is
Embrun, Russell, Limoges and Marionville are attractive communities to live, work and operate a business.
Lead the region with a 18.6% population growth rate (Census 2016-2021)
expanding to create EV car tires; industrial aluminum company Novelis will make EV battery casings and its aluminum sheets will be used in car body panels; and DuPont’s adhesives and Invista’s nylon will also be used for vehicle components.
In the start-up space, critical mineral recyclers such as Cyclic Materials and Ucore both operate demonstration plants in Kingston and the expansion of these plants is expected to lead to more jobs.
“As we continue to expand our core engineering team in Kingston, if we find the right engineering talent we will continue to add to the team,” said Kunal Phalper, senior vice-president with Cyclic
Materials. “We also anticipate opening further commercial facilities in Kingston that will require more engineers as well as other manufacturing roles such as operators, plant managers and health and safety officers. This is a high-growth area in an emerging field.”
One Kingston-area business, Distributive, is a part of Project Arrow, Canada’s first zero-emissions concept vehicle. The company provides technology to help maximize the car’s computing power through a localized cloud solution.
Kingston Economic Development Corp. said it expects more than 1,500 jobs to be created, directly related to the EV sector in the Kingston region.
Meanwhile, on the research and development side, institutions such as Queen’s University and GreenCentre Canada, as well as organizations like Kingston Process Metallurgy and the RXN Hub, are working with businesses and start-ups on topics including access to specialized equipment, commercialization and connections to government programs.
Embrun, Russell, Limoges et Marionville sont des communautés attrayantes pour vivre, travailler et démarrer une entreprise.
Chef de file de la région avec un taux de croissance démographique de 18,6 % (recensement 2016-2021) ecodev@russell.ca
Terrains prêts à l’investissement www.russell.ca/industrialpark
Grants and programs
Subventions et programmes www.russell.ca/cip
Skilled bilingual workforce Main-d’oeuvre bilingue qualifiée www.russell.ca/stats
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
One of Kingston’s few downtown office towers looms large over the downtown core, but for a different reason than usual these days.
Downtown businesses are counting the days until Empire Life, the region’s largest private-sector employer, vacates its King Street East headquarters, which it has occupied since 1936.
In November 2023, Empire Life, Canada’s ninth-largest insurance company, announced plans to sell its Kingston-based head office building, mainly due to the increase in hybrid and remote work by its employees. Six months after the prime downtown property hit the market, the company announced 259 King St. E. had been sold to local developer Jay Patry Enterprises. The deal closed last spring. Terms of the deal were not released.
Empire Life stated it would be relocating to a new “modern adaptive space” in Kingston, which has not been announced. The company employs approximately 1,200 people Canada-wide, with just over half of those in Kington. While those workers would have been in the office prepandemic, Empire Life’s CEO recently said the company now usually sees roughly 120 in the office on any given day.
“We will lease and manage the Kingston office over the foreseeable future while we pursue office space in Kingston more suited to our current needs,” said Karen Smith, a spokesperson for the company. “There will not be any significant changes in our location or management of the premises in the short term. Empire Life is committed to staying in Kingston and continuing to be active members of this community.”
The loss of workers from the downtown core has put further strain on downtown restaurants and retail stores.
“Business office lunches are a thing of the past,” said Tim Pater, owner of Black
Dog Hospitality Group, which operates four downtown restaurants. “Between the pandemic and (the recent) Causeway closure, everyone downtown is feeling the pinch at lunch hour.”
He said he remains optimistic that new residents downtown — both at the Empire Life building once it undergoes renovations, and at other nearby apartment and condo
towers that are expected to open in 2025 — will mean more foot traffic and a new source of revenue for downtown businesses.
Marijo Cuerrier, executive director of the Downtown Kingston BIA, said downtown pedestrian counts were up year-over-year until the closure of the LaSalle Causeway in April. She said she is hopeful new downtown residents will bring new spending. But,
she noted, broader economic issues mean visitors are, on average, spending less. Her team’s focus is on improving the downtown experience to capitalize on each visitor.
“Our efforts are concentrated on amplifying the many great events that we produce, as well as tackling things like cleanliness, florals and homelessness,” she said.
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
Sales, layoffs and relaunches are capping off a busy year for Kingston’s broadcast sector.
In February, Bell Media announced the sale of 45 radio stations across Canada. Renfrew-based My Broadcasting Corp. purchased two of the stations in Kingston — MOVE 98.3 and Pure Country 99 — and two in Brockville.
A Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearing was held Sept. 5 to review the proposed purchase, with a decision expected no later than early February 2025.
My Broadcasting Corp. owns several stations across southern Ontario, including myFM stations in Napanee and Gananoque. The co-founders of My Broadcasting Corp. also own 102.7 WOW FM, based in Cape Vincent, N.Y., which serves Kingston.
CEO Jon Pole said the company will work with existing staff at the four former Bell stations and, while the names of the stations will change, the
formats will be “the same for the most part.”
“The on-air teams on these stations already do an amazing job, especially when we provide them with further resources and support,” said Pole. “I have no doubt they will keep you laughing, up to date and connected to the community.”
Pole said listeners can expect more local news and community involvement and said the refreshed approach is resulting in excitement from local advertisers.
Dan Mellon, coordinator of the radio broadcasting program at Algonquin College and former program director of Bell’s Kingston radio stations, said Canada’s broadcast sector is seeing a trend toward smaller, more locally oriented ownership of radio stations by companies focused on broadcasting, rather than complex corporate behemoths such as Bell.
The 45 stations sold by Bell in February are expected to be divided among seven independent broadcasting companies.
“Whether the Kingston stations
made $1,000 a day or $10,000 a day, it’s a small piece to Bell but not to a local operator,” Mellon said.
Following the announcement of the sale, Pole said his intention is to retain key on-air staff at the Bell stations. In the weeks since, his 102.7 FM station has hired local on-air talent following layoffs at Corus Entertainment’s Kingston operations.
In mid-July, Corus announced the layoffs of many of its news and on-air staff at Global Kingston, as well as its on-air personalities at 96.3 BIG FM and 104.3 Fresh Radio. Local shows were replaced with broadcasts and recordings originating in Toronto, Ottawa and Peterborough.
“Compared to some of Corus’s other businesses, radio stations don’t necessarily bring in a lot, but they also don’t cost as much as a TV station or content distribution centre,” added Mellon. “They’re easier to cut, but what happens when you run out of furniture to burn?”
Corus’s Kingston cuts were part of company-wide layoffs totalling 800 jobs in July and August.
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
Farms in the Kingston area continue to seek answers after the only abattoir in the region was destroyed by fire on June 27.
The cause of the fire that destroyed Quinn’s Meats remains under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshall. An abattoir, or slaughterhouse, typically works with local farmers to prepare their meat for grocery store shelves.
The Quinn’s Meats abattoir was purchased by Enright Farms in 2021 and, according to local farmers contacted by the Kingston Business Journal, at the time of the fire had a minimum 18-month wait for appointments.
“We are hoping to be able to rebuild the abattoir at the same location, however, we have not confirmed anything yet,” said Kara Enright, owner of Quinn’s Meats and Enright Farms. “We are still working with insurance to determine what the costs will be and trying to come up with a design to meet the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs current regulations and work within our current space.”
Enright said she hopes to rebuild Quinn’s within 18 months. The capacity of the new Quinn’s will be informed by the design and regulations and has not yet been determined.
A representative from the provincial ministry confirmed they have been in touch with the Enrights to help with licensing requirements and have offered to “look at local requests and offer supplemental hours by ministry food inspectors” to help support the needs of local producers.
The only other abattoir in the region, the Wallace Beef abattoir at Joyceville Penitentiary, closed in 2022. In late August,
the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) issued an expression of interest looking for a tenant on a five-year lease for the abattoir facilities, which are dated and in poor condition, according to a report from local activist group Evolve Our Prison Farms.
The expression of interest, which would also require the operator to hire inmates to work in the facility, was slated to close Oct. 15, 2024.
“The potential re-opening of the Joyceville abattoir is the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dave Perry, who owns Perry Farms and is president of the Beef Farmers of Frontenac.
Yet Enright suggested the CSC’s conditions in its expression of interest are a deterrent, as the government intends to offer the building for lease as is.
“Our interest is not to invest in a government asset and develop a training and certification program for inmates, but rather to rent a building which would currently meet OMAFRA regulations until we are rebuilt and operational,” she said.
Until Quinn’s is rebuilt or a new company sets up shop at Joyceville, the closest licensed abattoir facilities to Kingston farmers are an hour away in the Belleville area, Prince Edward County, or just outside Brockville.
Cory Priest of Thorpe Farms said abattoir capacity in Eastern Ontario has been an issue for decades. He attempted to open a facility near Napanee, but the project was cancelled in 2022 due to the economic downturn that scared off investors interested in the $11-million facility.
“As a result, we have downsized our farming operations to fall in line with local processing capacity, which unfortunately is basically our own consumption,” said Priest. “Our direct marketing approach is
The potential re-opening of the Joyceville abattoir is the light at the end of the tunnel.
unsustainable with the current abattoirs available to us in Eastern Ontario. We are booking spots wherever we can.”
Priest noted small-scale operations, such as his former artisan chicken farm, are subject to the same regulations as meat plants that operate at 1,000 times the volume. The regulatory hurdles create a bottleneck and make it hard for smaller operations to compete and remain profitable, according to Priest.
The decrease in licensed abattoirs in Ontario is something Sylvain Charlebois, who studies food distribution and food policy
in Canada for Dalhousie University, noted in 2012. At the time, Ontario had 142 facilities. The Canada Revenue Agency currently lists 112 in Ontario, including Quinn’s.
“While the typical argument is that there are too many regulations, what we found is operators need to understand market connectivity and access,”
Charlebois said. “You’re working with smaller producers and accommodating niche markets and you need the right people who understand markets and how to deal with grocers — which is often underestimated.”
The last decade has ushered in seismic change for the workforce in Eastern Ontario, and around the world. As a result, employers are discovering that traditional methods of workforce recruitment are no longer effective.
But while the changing nature of the workforce presents challenges, it also brings opportunities, says Alysha Dominico, project coordinator for Ontario East Workforce Partners Support Project (OE-WPSP).
“The way that we’ve always done things doesn’t necessarily work anymore, so we are looking to find a solution for that,” Dominico says. “Employers are noticing it is getting harder to hire and that work is changing, ” she adds. This means a pivot is necessary,, and that’s where Ontario East Economic Development comes in.
Dominico says the shifts include a turn to remote work as a result of the pandemic. Demographic changes,
including age and immigration, have provided a potential group of new employees, but of course it is necessary to build in accommodations to help newcomers and younger workers adjust. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are ongoing and transit, accommodation and childcare needs must be addressed, Dominico says.
“We’re seeing a big change in the workforce and what people want out of work, with the onset of the millennials. We’re following the trends and helping everybody survive them,” she says, adding that baby boomer exits and the fact that new skills are needed are requiring adjustments
To address these changes and the demands of employers and the workforce, Ontario East has established a working group that relies heavily on collaboration and communication. Stakeholders, which include those who have an audience with employers, meet to problem solve. The organization has also created a rich array of resources, including a newsletter and
tools on its web site that includes a map of available properties, a map of available jobs, a list of key sectors and a regional profile. “The success comes in what people share,” Dominico adds.
For example, one employer was confounded by all the hoops through which she had to jump to navigate a government website in order to address some immigration issues during a hiring effort. Thanks to Ontario East’s online resources, she was able to find information immediately. Another example includes a unique collaboration between a Brockville high school that allowed high school students to help build affordable housing for an employer.
Now with 150 members, Ontario East was established more than 35 years ago as a non-profit regional marketing agency with a mandate to develop, implement and administer programs to attract new investment and jobs to its diverse group of communities. With a focus on investment attraction, Ontario East also offers
professional development opportunities and delivers programs to enhance the region’s competitiveness.
“We help to connect people with businesses and jobs, as well as new investment to eastern Ontario” says executive director Jay Amer. Part of meeting that mandate includes addressing issues that currently affect employers, including immigration, transit, education, childcare and diversity, education and inclusivity.
The organization’s clientele is inclusive of 13 counties and ten separated cities in Ontario, from Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton east to Renfrew and
Prescott-Russell at the Quebec border and all the communities in between. Some of the main industries within Ontario East include advanced manufacturing, logistics and transportation and food and beverage.
And while these industries are thriving, they are certainly being impacted by ruptures in the workforce. “We know things have to change. We know it’s been difficult for employers. By sharing all of our collective ideas and looking at what has worked in one region and then how to duplicate it to another region, that’s mission critical right now. We can help them with communication of knowledge,”
says Dominico. OE-WPSP is made possible through funding from the province’s Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Skills Development Fund.
Enjoy being treated like royalty at a countryside setting, steeped in timeless elegance
Stonefields Estate feels like the kind of place where time stands still.
It may be the idyllic countryside location or the historic farm buildings dotting the property that give it an air of timelessness.
Owners Steve Malenfant and Stephanie Brown-Malenfant have added their own special touches to this historic property in Beckwith.
“We want to make sure every guest feels the magic of Stonefields the moment they arrive,” explains Steve. The couple is so dedicated to their passion for hosting events that they left successful careers nearly 15 years ago to launch their business.
Elegant hosting from the heart Stephanie and Steve first started hosting weddings in a simple white tent. A decade ago, they searched the countryside for the perfect barn to form the centrepiece at Stonefields. They found one on a 140-year-old neighbouring farm, meticulously taking it apart piece by piece and building what is now known as the Loft, an elegant, whitewashed barn adorned with crystal chandeliers.
The French country-inspired Loft offers a view from every window to a sweeping countryside, and it has a sheltered verandah and outdoor bar for mixing and mingling. More recently, they added a stunning white Ceremony House, enhancing the beauty of Stonefields and offering space for elegant events and wedding ceremonies.
Together, they’ve perfected the art of hosting upscale, beautiful events and treating guests like royalty on their wedding day. Stephanie takes the art of entertaining to a whole new level, carefully curating events to fit each
client’s vision, while Steve brings his East Coast heritage and a military man’s meticulous attention to detail.
“At Stonefields, we take great pride in offering exceptional white glove service,” says Stephanie. “It’s the cornerstone of everything we do—from event planning to execution. Our kitchen, led by Executive Chef Angela Hodgson, prepares exquisite hors d’oeuvres, sumptuous meals and heavenly desserts.”
Customized corporate events, large and small Stonefields has recently expanded the business. The venue is now hosting corporate events, holiday parties, private functions and monthly four-course public dinner events.
“This is a natural extension for us,” says Steve. “We love what we do. People love what we do. Now, we can share the Stonefields experience with a wider audience.”
A mere thirty minutes from Ottawa, Stonefields is an ideal location for corporate events, offering a unique and exquisite setting.
With so many beautiful spaces to choose from, the possibilities are endless. The Loft and Ceremony House each holds 220 guests for large-scale corporate events. Next door is the property’s stone farmhouse, built in 1857. This beautifully renovated 4,000-square-foot country home offers generous main-level rooms for meetings and gatherings, along with overnight accommodations for eight guests, complete with a large French country kitchen.
Next door, the Badchild Pub offers both a comfy haven and an executive green room or breakout space for events. There are stunning outdoor spaces for games,
team building and group events, too.
“No matter what your vision is for your corporate event, we would love to make it happen,” says Stephanie. “Our team works closely with you to customize your experience, plan your menus and coordinate your event. We ensure everything is seamless and offer warm, exceptional high-end hospitality.”
Why not experience Stonefields for yourself? Join one of the upcoming Stonefields Dinner Events open to the public, where you’ll enjoy a deliciously curated four-course dinner with family or friends. Each dinner experience is unique with a themed menu prepared by Chef Angela and her team.
Guests mingle over cocktails on the outdoor verandah, explore the estate’s grounds and buildings, and then enjoy dinner, complete with live music.
“Our guests love the whole experience, from our exquisite cuisine to our enchanting spaces,” explains Stephanie.
Book your Stonefields Estate experience today:
• Corporate Events
• Corporate Holiday Parties
• Private Events and Petite Weddings
• Monthly Stonefields Dinner Events
www.stonefieldsevents.ca/
“Our culinary team works tirelessly to create innovative dishes that reflect each month’s theme, using the finest local and seasonal ingredients.”
“We love to see events come together,” says Steve. “It wows everyone every time.”
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
Even though Kingston’s location — a few hours from Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal — is often a selling feature for businesses, travelling from Kingston to those cities, or to an even more far-flung corporate headquarters, has become more complicated in recent years.
One pandemic casualty was regular air service from Kingston Airport, known by its call letters YGK, as Air Canada discontinued its Kingston-Toronto route in June 2020. While two different regional airlines, FlyGTA and Pascan Aviation, briefly offered flights out of Kingston, both have since cancelled their service.
The City of Kingston’s airport manager, Aron Winterstein, says he remains in conversation with five airlines, including Canadian and American options, and continues to work toward returning service to YGK.
He notes that regional airports like his, and the flights that serve those airports, have taken the brunt of the damage post-COVID.
“While passenger numbers are nearing the pre-pandemic levels, flight frequencies are down 33 per cent, which means airlines are using larger aircraft,” he said. “Air Canada has retired their fleet of aircraft that were coming into our airport and now the smallest aircraft they’re operating would be an 80-seat aircraft, so that has dramatically reduced the frequency.”
Winterstein cites rising fuel costs, pilot shortages and Kingston’s relatively close proximity to international airports in Ottawa and Toronto as challenges. His goal, similar to that of many other smaller communities, remains securing air service that would link into a major airline network such as Air Canada’s.
YGK itself is ready for a return of regular service after receiving $16 million for esthetic and functional improvements, including an extension of the runway by 1,000 feet to allow larger planes like Boeing 737s to land.
And even despite the lack of regular service, Winterstein says the airport still sees up to 40,000 “movements” a year, including everything from personal aircraft, cargo shipments, medical flights, training flights, military use, private charters, and, in mid-August, the prime minister’s plane.
In terms of rail service, during the pandemic VIA Rail cut an early morning rail trip designed to get Kingston-area business leaders into downtown Toronto in time for the start of the business day. A lack of available train cars was cited as the issue.
After the delivery of VIA’s new trains last fall, the route was restored in late May 2024. VIA Rail would not confirm if ridership on the slightly modified route — which now starts in Ottawa and skips Napanee — had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
In terms of roads, the speed limit on Highway 401 in the Kingston area was increased to 110 km/h in July. The highway will see the addition of more lanes in the Belleville area in coming years and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra has indicated the highway’s expansion could continue eastward.
In terms of shipping, Kingston-based businesses gained a new transportation asset as H.R. Doornekamp Construction took over a dormant iron ore port in Picton. Following years of work, the site is being used to ship steel, aggregate and other materials from Eastern Ontario out to the Atlantic provinces, the Greater Toronto Area, Windsor/Detroit, and across the Great Lakes.
Passport inquiries
Passport inquiries
Federal programs & benefits
Federal programs & benefits
Milestone Certificates
Milestone Certificates
Petitions to Parliament
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
Two long-standing Kingston businesses that experienced the loss of their leaders last fall are continuing the legacies of those leaders.
On Sept. 2, 2023, Gregg Rosen, president of Kimco Steel Sales, died after a boating accident at age 63. Rosen was the third generation in his family to lead the steel service centre, scrap metal and recycling facility.
In the year since, leadership at Kimco has transitioned to the fourth generation of the Rosen family with Cody Rosen, Gregg’s oldest son, becoming president.
the work side, he acknowledges his team for helping him and the organization overcome the loss.
“A lot of the credit I give to my people and I give that credit as well to my father, who had instilled and empowered such great employees to be able to pick up the slack in a lot of different areas,” he said. “It wasn’t a seamless transition, but man, it made it a lot easier and really helped us.”
Also last fall, on Oct. 28, 2023, Arthur Britton Smith, more commonly known as Brit Smith, the founder of Homestead Land Holdings, died at the age of 103. Smith was not only the founder of Homestead Land Holdings, but also its first CEO and a board member into his nineties.
30,000 units in Canada and the U.S. Smith’s passing was a loss for many of the charities he supported. His generosity lives on through a foundation established on behalf of his friends and family. His support for the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington dated back to the ‘60s or earlier, according to CEO John DiPaolo.
“Brit’s passing leaves a gap in our community and his legacy continues to inspire people,” he said. “Others now have the opportunity to step forward and emulate what Brit was able to do for so many years.”
“I never wanted the title, you know, in a family business,” Cody said. “I feel that titles serve a purpose, but they’re not very impactful or meaningful. Despite my dad being the president of the company, he was no better than anybody else and would go fill a photocopier or help a customer with a very small steel order or give anybody the time of day.”
Cody has been involved in the family business full time for 12 years, leaving behind a pro hockey career to help his father.
“We did this thing as a partnership and we planned for our five-, 10-, 15-year future and the sustainability of Kimco Steel,” he said. “I feel really blessed to have my dad be open to change. He embraced it, he understood it. Maybe that’s a lesson that he got when he was working with his father when he came into the business at a young age.”
Cody and his father worked closely together and committed long hours to the business, balancing each other’s abilities. Cody didn’t have much time to mourn, moving directly into his dad’s office shortly after his passing in order to keep the business moving.
Cody said he feels the loss both personally and professionally but, on
At Homestead, the company had put in a succession plan in place over a decade ago, meaning work continued when its founder, who was still involved in the business, died.
The rental housing developer continues to move forward with downtown Kingston rental towers under construction, as well as projects in other cities such as Ottawa, a bid on a potential conference centre in downtown Kingston, and continuing its rental operations, which include more than
The United Way made one change to honour Smith’s legacy: the annual United Way Leadership Reception hosted by Smith at his home every June has been renamed the A. Britton Smith Leadership Reception. In recognition of Smith’s military service, this year’s edition was held at the Vimy Officers’ Mess.
“Brit is our honorary patron and has been for years and multiple generations of his family are involved in our community, including through the United Way,” DiPaolo added. “The legacy of philanthropy and community service does not stop with Brit.”
I never wanted the title, you know, in a family business.I feel that titles serve a purpose, but they’re not very impactful or meaningful. Despite my dad being the president of the company, he was no better than anybody else and would go fill a photocopier or help a customer with a very small steel order or give anybody the time of day.
Cody Rosen, president, Kimco Steel Sales
Launch Lab’s Amplify program offers companies such as Canadian Wollastonite seasoned entrepreneurs who can help with everything from honing marketing to positioning the company for growth and investment.
Wollastonite sounds like a wonder product. The greyish white mineral that collects in metamorphosed limestone has the unique property that it absorbs CO2 when you put it onto agricultural land. It’s also used in commercial and industrial products for manufacturing cement and steel, for example. And its applications extend even further — to agriculture, forestry, horticulture.
With so much potential, Canadian Wollastonite — a company that has a wollastonite mining operation north of Kingston in Seeley’s Bay — wants to make sure it’s doing things right. It’s the only such mine in Canada; there are just two others in North America and only a handful around the world. And the carbon sequestration application is a major one given the global effort to curb climate change. As such, Canadian Wollastonite’s president Bob Vasily reached out to Kingston’s Launch Lab to learn from its entrepreneurs-in-residence through its Amplify program, which is committing two advisers to the Canadian Wollastonite file.
“We are working with the company to help it hone its value proposition to attract investment and help it scale,” says Scott Runté, CEO of Launch Lab.
Currently, Canadian Wollastonite is partnering with a U.K.-based company called Undo Carbon and together they’re running a major carbon removal demonstration project in Eastern Ontario.
“With tree planting, the carbon is sequestered for the life span of the tree, and then its re-released, but enhanced rock weathering permanently sequesters carbon for tens of thousands of years. And it allows farmers to participate in the solution of carbon removal.”
In addition, farmers get numerous agronomical benefits from wollastonite — they can avoid using chemicals or carbonemitting lime to control the ph of their soil. Undo Carbon is able to accurately measure the carbon captured, which translates into carbon credits, which help offset the cost of the application of wollastonite.
“So it gives us the opportunity to provide and spread wollastonite on farm fields at no cost to the farmers,” Vasily says. “They get all of the benefits associated with it, and it’s being paid for by carbon credits.”
Another business line for Canadian Wollastonite is selling the product to industrial companies that are trying to lower their carbon footprint.
“We’re selling it as a non-CO2-emitting source of calcium, magnesium and silicone,
which is replacing the very high CO2producing carbonate minerals currently being used,” Vasily says. “That’s a growing business line for us, too.”
How Launch Lab is helping “At the highest level, Launch Lab is providing a lot of coaching and input as we try to formulate our strategic objectives or strategic operating plans — short, medium, long term,” Vasily says. “They also facilitate peer-to-peer communications with other business owners who have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from. The consulting services they provide are helpful for small businesses that are caught up in the day to day and just don’t devote time.”
The goal for Launch Lab is always the same, Runté says. “We want to be a catalyst for innovation and a voice for innovation for Eastern Ontario.”
In the case of Canadian Wollastonite, Runté and his colleagues have been helping Vasily understand the funding opportunities that are available to small businesses in Ontario and they’ve been providing “quite specific coaching” on how to attract investment by working on the company’s value proposition and netting
out the return on investment — two crucial components in the maturity of a business.
“They’ve also been helping us with regular banking relationships and how to better optimize them,” Vasily says. “We are also in joint venture discussions with an international mining partner for another division of the company, where we have developed some proven beneficiation technology. Launch Lab advisers are helping us think that through. They ask tough questions and help us understand the benefits and the downfalls, and how a joint venture should be structured.”
Canadian Wollastonite was founded in 2003, but spent many years securing environmental permits and shipped its first wollastonite in 2013. It then secured approvals for its entire resource in 2019 and started larger scale operations in 2020.
Runté says the fundamentals for Canadian Wollastonite are “extremely strong,” and given that it’s really just opened this mine recently to the market opportunities it knows about, it’s the right time to offer help in understanding different support programs and potential investment opportunities to help accelerate and contribute to the work Vasily and his early investors have already made.
“We really want to just try to catalyze or accelerate a market path that’s already well under way,” Runté says. “This is an example of a client that is really starting to accelerate, and we’re just trying to see if there’s some specific advisory support that we can offer. As we’re doing that, we get to know Bob a little bit better, and he gets to know us, and we then try to understand whether or not there’s an ongoing level of support we can provide.”
Launch Lab’s Amplify program helps a Queen’s University spinoff company with business development and succession planning.
When Dr. Steve Hunt was teaching biology at Queen’s University, he was frustrated by the fact that he’d often have to demonstrate experiments to first-year biology students using a single very expensive research device or by providing students with super-simple technology from the 1800s “that would turn them off biology for life.” And that was the genesis of Qubit Systems — (Queen’s University Biological Instrumentation and Technology)— which solved the laboratory dilemma by designing and building inexpensive biological instrumentation for research and teaching in the biological sciences.
With business help from PARTEQ Innovations at Queen’s, Hunt and his business partners, Dr. David Layzell and Nick Dowling, began by building a range of biological instruments that allowed professors to enhance their teaching in practical lab-based courses.
“These professors soon realised they could also use Qubit’s simple instruments for their research,” Hunt says, which led him and the company co-founders to make their technology increasingly more sophisticated. Hunt is Qubit’s CEO, and the company now employs 11 people, including Dr. Monika Kuzma, chief scientific officer and Hunt’s life partner.
“Over the past 28 years, we’ve been expanding the range of instrumentation we make to encompass most areas of the
biological sciences, ranging from algal microbiology to human physiology,”
Hunt says.
The company’s latest invention is VOCO, which measures human cardiopulmonary fitness, and after completing the design, the team approached Launch Lab to see what services it might offer the company on the cusp of significant growth.
The VOCO device measures a person’s oxygen consumption and CO2 production rates during rest and exercise. It has a face mask with a tube through which the person breathes. The pressure of the inhaled and exhaled breath in the tube is measured, from which breath flow, breath volume, and how frequently the person is breathing is calculated.
A gas analyzer worn on the person’s back samples the breath and measures the concentration of oxygen and CO2 in the inhaled and exhaled breath.
“By measuring the flow rate of breath and the concentrations of those gases, we can measure how much oxygen is being consumed and CO2 produced, and we can see all of this on a smartphone app,” Hunt explains. “From O2 consumption and CO2 production rates, we can discover many different things related to human metabolism and fitness. In fact, a person’s oxygen consumption rate during exercise is the most important indicator of fitness level, and has profound implications on longevity. It can also tell a person
precisely how many calories they’ve burned during an exercise period, with no ergometer guesswork.”
This newest device is being marketed to the research community but also to kinesiologists. The closest competitor’s equipment sells for $65,000, but Qubit’s is currently selling for $12,000.
“For the first time, we’re also going after the gym market, sports clubs and health centres,” he says. “And with time, we hope to reduce the price even further.”
Now that Qubit has a new device and a new market, and given the founders hope to one day retire and pass the business on, Hunt and Kuzma were interested in discussing succession planning with some advisers. Launch Lab came up as a nonprofit that could probably help.
“One of our directors suggested Launch Lab as an excellent organization that could advise us on a whole range of matters,” Hunt says. “It started off by us contacting Scott Runté and his associates to advise us on positioning the company for a potential sale or for attracting investment, particularly related to VOCO, because this is almost like a startup product for us. Our question was how to penetrate the relevant markets, position ourselves and maybe attract investment.”
For his part, Runté says one of the constant themes in Launch Lab’s Amplify program is a conversation with the client about succession planning and where they see themselves three and five years down the line.
“We try to understand how they see themselves running their business in 3-5 years, and a lot of times they haven’t thought of it,” Runté says. “It’s a really important thing for owner-operated
Over the past 28 years, we’ve been expanding the range of instrumentation we make to encompass most areas of the biological sciences, ranging from algal microbiology to human physiology –Dr. Steve Hunt
businesses to consider as they operate their business.”
Hunt says Launch Lab gave them a ton of good advice, starting with helping them get their financial house in order and developing a five-year plan to show where Qubit’s money is being spent.
“Scott has acted as our virtual CFO,” Hunt says. “He helped us to establish some really sophisticated financial models of what the company does, where our
earnings are going — all of the financial information you need if you’re going to position yourself for acquisition.”
Hunt said a Launch Lab marketing adviser Stephen Beamish provided ideas on various marketing strategies, including how to use social media such as LinkedIn without spending a fortune. “There are ways to use these platforms to get a great deal of bang for your buck,” Hunt says.
Kuzma says Launch Lab advised them
on various marketing initiatives, such as combining their three websites into one to improve their Google ratings and searchengine optimization.
“Also, the Launch Lab advisers have great contacts across Canada, so they’ve suggested companies we should speak with,” Hunt says. “And they’ve also pointed us in the direction of funding that we might qualify for.”
Kuzma says they meet monthly with
Launch Lab, and that pushes them to focus on business-oriented work as well as the research and development that comes more naturally to the two biology PhDs.
“Having that meeting in your calendar is very effective way to instill discipline,” she says.
Visit www.launchlab.ca for more information on Launch Lab’s services, and www.qubitsystems.com to learn more about Qubit’s products.
Do you have an innovative product or technology that you’re looking to commercialize or expand upon? Not sure how to get there? Contact us to get a fresh, professional perspective on how to achieve your goals.
ADVISOR SUPPORT provides leadership advice and guidance to address specific business challenges.
ELEVATE IP is designed to improve your overall IP knowledge, and to support the development of an IP strategy.
AMPLIFY is a business leadership program that accelerates the expansion of Eastern Ontario companies selling into either business-tobusiness (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) markets regional, nationally or internationally.
DIGITAL LEAD GENERATORS We know finding prospects can be hard, and converting those prospects to sales even harder. Our DLG team build and execute a digital lead strategy to drive more awareness and to convert more prospects to wins.
“Launch Lab always has ideas. We would have never been able to get to where we are without their knowledge and experience”
Jeff Conner, Operation Manager, GanReel Manufacturing Inc. - Amplify Client
“Because of the IP Assist Program, our company will look so good for potential investors as a safer bet for their money.
Karen Brunet, Founder, Cntrl+ Inc - Elevate IP Program client
“The DLG Team continually impress me with the value they add. We have experienced significant return on investments. I would highly recommend DLG to other small businesses.”
Kyle Dine, Equal Eats Founder - Digital Lead Generators Client
Blue Collar Marketing specializes in digital marketing for blue-collar businesses with targeted strategies, enhanced online presence and media production.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our biggest lesson learned has been the importance of planning for seasonality while staying adaptable in the face of fluctuating business demands. Early on, we realized that while our core service of website design is in high demand, the ebb and flow of projects can sometimes create gaps, especially during slower periods. To address this, we began to anticipate and plan for these seasonal shifts by diversifying our offerings. By expanding our services to complement website design, we’ve been able to create additional value for our clients
while securing more consistent work. This includes services like ongoing website maintenance, SEO management, and digital marketing support — services that naturally align with what we already do but allow us to better manage the peaks and valleys of demand.
To mitigate these challenges, we needed to ensure we’re consistently meeting our recurring monthly revenue key performance indicators. This involves strategically planning our projects and diversifying our
services to generate steady revenue streams that can sustain us during slower periods. By focusing on RMR KPIs, we aim to establish a reliable financial cushion that will allow us to navigate through seasonal fluctuations without compromising the quality of our services or the well-being of our team. We are also exploring opportunities to expand our service offerings to cater to a broader range of needs within our industry. By doing so, we hope to attract a more diverse client base, thereby reducing our dependence on seasonal projects. This approach not only helps in stabilizing our cash flow, but also positions us as a versatile and resilient business capable of adapting to changing market conditions.
In the end, mitigating the ebb and flow of the blue-collar industry has made our business stronger and more resilient. It’s taught us to stay proactive, focus on building lasting relationships with our clients, and always think ahead. We’ve found that by embracing the challenges and opportunities that come with seasonality, we’re better equipped to maintain success year-round.
The most important lesson we learned is the critical role of adaptability and a strong team in a rapidly growing environment. Being open to change and ready to pivot quickly when needed was key to our success.
KINGSTON
239.6% REVENUE GROWTH
Cloud Metric provides IT management that enhances performance, quality and security for organizations in Canada, ensuring compliance with industry standards, supported by 24/7 support.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
The biggest challenge we faced was scaling our operations to keep up with rapid growth while maintaining service quality and customer satisfaction. This involved managing the complexities of project management, customer support, compliance and security, while simultaneously expanding our team. Additionally, recruiting the right talent quickly enough to support our growth
BROCKVILLE
199% REVENUE GROWTH
The Bar is a full-serve bar serving nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages with live entertainment six days per week.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our biggest challenge was adding and training new staff, quickly, while trying to handle new ways of accommodating our added customers. Coming in and out of the COVID shutdowns, never knowing if people
proved to be a significant hurdle. We needed individuals who were not only technically skilled, but also aligned with our company’s vision and culture.
What did you do to address it?
To tackle these challenges, we invested in advanced project and IT management tools and automated workflows to streamline
operations and optimize resource allocation. This helped reduce manual processes and ensured consistent service delivery, despite the growing demands. On the recruitment front, we adopted a proactive strategy, collaborating with industry networks and educational institutions to build a talent pipeline that met our needs. By focusing on training and cultural alignment, we ensured that new hires were prepared to maintain our high standards of customer support.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The most important lesson we learned is the critical role of adaptability and a strong team in a rapidly growing environment. Being open to change and ready to pivot quickly when needed was key to our success. Moreover, investing in our team’s development and nurturing a positive company culture proved invaluable. Our skilled, motivated team made it possible to overcome the challenges of fast growth while continuing to deliver exceptional services to our clients.
were going to keep coming back or not, trying to add and train new staff, implementing new rules that changed on a monthly basis proved to be quite difficult. We experienced some growing pains, but were able to overcome those by trial and error.
What did you do to address it?
We just kept working away bit by bit, day by day. We had to learn new ways and many things very quickly, definitely a little quicker than what we wanted. We had a solid foundation with our past experiences, so we put our heads together and came up with new ways and new ideas. Not everything worked out the way we wanted, but we kept at it by changing a little bit here and a little bit there. We are constantly learning and
evolving and truly hope to continue this for long into the future.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
That’s hard to say. We have certainly learned a lot over the years and are continuously learning every day. A trusted and reliable staff can go a long way and not having that on a daily basis can make things more challenging. Whether it be engaging with the customers or simply making a bit of an effort while not just doing the minimum, customers will definitely take notice and that can certainly have a lasting impact, positive or negative, on the short- and long-term success of the business. Taking the time to work with employees, which can be a little
demanding at times, can truly make all the difference in the long run for sustained business and future growth.
BY
Proudly crafted in Kingston, Ontario, SnapCab’s award-winning custom privacy pods lead the way in innovation, providing flexible solutions that adapt to the evolving needs of today’s workplaces—offering a flexible alternative to traditional build-outs.
SnapCab pods enhance spaces in many industries by offering solutions that address the unique needs of diverse users.
By choosing SnapCab, you’re not just investing in cutting-edge design and productivity solutions; you’re also supporting Eastern Ontario’s local manufacturing sector, job creation, and future economic sustainability.
Together, let’s build a stronger and more innovative Canada.
166.7% REVENUE
Convergence is an end-to-end contract design services company operating in aerospace, hardware, software, mechanical, robotics, and electric vehicle engineering.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Balancing ongoing complex engineering projects while growing/onboarding the team in lockstep. As technology continues to evolve in aerospace/military/electric vehicle design, so do the challenges of adapting with the velocity of change.
What did you do to address it?
Hiring the best talent available, continuous training/mentoring and creating a collaborative environment where problems are solved in an agile, fast-paced manner. We continued to develop the co-op program to allow for a future talent pipeline and support our senior engineering staff. Over the years, Convergence has invested in process improvements, test equipment and expansion of business development.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
Teamwork and collaboration are imperative to the success of any organization. We focus on creating an environment of continuous learning and pushing the technology barrier. In order to achieve project success, our team members must be supported in all aspects of their professional growth and maintain work-life balance.
The biggest lesson learned for us would be to practise patience, that not everyone will support your decisions or your company.
J&J is a small local landscaping and construction company.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Hiring the right staff is always a challenge for any company. Growth is great, but remaining disciplined with our key goals in mind and always providing a top-quality job well done is most important to us. As each year changes,
I would say the fear of not knowing what the next year will bring; things change fast and you have to be ready to adapt.
What did you do to address it?
Get out and talk to people, be more involved in the community, build strong relationships personally and professionally, stay positive. Work hard every day.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson learned for us would be to practise patience, that not everyone will support your decisions or your company. To know your people and know who is supporting you and who is not. If you’re determined, persistent and seek help when needed, you will succeed.
AquaOmega aims to be the global leader in both innovation and quality regarding omega-3 fatty acid supplements.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our greatest challenge has been securing the raw materials necessary to maintain the high standards we’ve set for our products, while also building adequate inventory to keep up with our rapid, double-digit growth. As a company that prioritizes quality, we are extremely selective about the raw materials we use, which can sometimes limit availability. Balancing this with the need to avoid stock-outs and prevent customer frustration has required constant focus. Furthermore, we are a self-funded company that has never raised outside capital. This means that managing cash flow and ensuring we can scale inventory in line with demand while staying within budget has added its own set of complexities.
did you do to address it?
We’ve addressed these challenges by developing a comprehensive burn rate and forecasting tool that helps us stay ahead of demand. This tool takes into account historical sales data, promotional activity, customer growth trends, and projections for new market entries. By leveraging these data points, we can better predict inventory needs and avoid stock-outs, ensuring a seamless experience for our customers.
Additionally, we’ve made it a priority to establish direct relationships with key players in the supply chain, including fisheries, crude oil facilities and distillation plants. This allows us to secure high-quality raw materials while also ensuring more reliable and consistent supply. Our efforts in the industry have also earned us a seat on the board of the global organization for EPA and DHA, which further strengthens our position and influence within the omega-3 sector.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that it’s absolutely possible to maintain integrity and quality, even amid rapid growth, if you remain focused on what truly matters. A key part of this has been surrounding ourselves
with the right people — those who are equally committed to our mission and values. Building a team that shares our vision has been crucial in overcoming challenges while staying true to our principles.
Effective communication has also been essential. Being transparent about potential
Brock IT is a service provider specializing in higher-security environments such as health care, financial services and military.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Service quality for current clients is always affected by adding new clients. New clients take 40-60 per cent more work for the first six months than current clients do, which results in more labour hours and thus slower response times for other issues.
challenges, both internally with our team and externally with our partners, has allowed us to address issues head-on and find solutions before they become major problems. And, most importantly, we’ve embraced the mindset of always learning from our mistakes.
What did you do to address it?
We have limited onboarding of new customers to one new customer per month and structured our onboardings better. This allows for staff to maintain current service standards as we onboard new customers.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
It’s an unfortunate reality that handshakes are meaningless to many people. Written agreements are the only thing that matter, so you must protect yourself and your business with written expectations. Without a clause preventing it, there is nothing stopping your vendors from taking your client list and selling to them directly, cutting you out of the deals that you cultivated.
Smiths Falls-based JPB is augmenting their strong commercial service offerings in response to local demand and interest
Following their acquisition of a smallscale powder coating operation, JPB Industrial and Commercial Services has added powder coating services to their arsenal of turnkey solutions for local manufacturers and commercial facility operators.
“If a client is experiencing an issue, their priority is to get their system back up and running or to improve their production,” said Lucas Borean, co-owner of JPB. “We have multiple trades to service the industry and diagnose and fix whatever problem they may have. Powder coating is another service we can offer our clients.”
For those not in the know, powder coating is a cost-efficient paint method that is more durable, smoother, and more corrosionresistant than typical wet paint. This type of paint offers some environmental advantages over liquid paints and it better allows for custom colours and patterns. It also dries faster, meaning less downtime for your new piece of equipment or vehicle parts.
Through all the interest and activity, they work closely with their clients to keep track of timelines and ensure priority jobs are delivered on-time.
Powder coating isn’t the only new service out of JPB’s Hershey Drive shop. They’ve also recently started offering offcut metal and plastics – essentially, extra pieces left over from their custom design and fabrication operations. These affordable pieces are popular with farmers, local fabrication shops, and artists and crafters, and selling them keeps them out of recycling or landfills.
These new divisions are on top of JPB’s existing commercial services including equipment installations, modifications, custom design and fabrication, millwrighting and machining, and support and servicing for industries like recycling, pharmaceutical, food, and more.
Hershey Dr. Unit 6, Smith Falls, ON K7A 0A8
Powder coating jobs can be as simple as car rims or as complex as whole buildings. JPB recently powder coated all the pieces of a geodome that’s headed internationally.
JPB Fabrication Services is a CWB certified company that continues to expand after nine years in business, and was named one of the Eastern Ontario Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2022. Their endto-end service is part of how they have built their reputation and many long-term client relationships.
KEMPTVILLE
54.4% REVENUE GROWTH
Kemptville Heating & AC is an HVAC business.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
We have never focused on fast growth. Our main focus has always been to provide our clients with quality products and exceptional workmanship. The biggest challenge we have faced is balancing our workload. In this industry, it is easy to get overworked and burnt-out during peak seasons. We, as HVAC professionals,
love what we do for a living but getting overworked can change that fast!
What did you do to address it?
Understanding the dynamics of the industry along with good management skills have always been essential to mitigating employee burnout. We believe that the 24-hour day is broken up into three eight-hour segments: eight work, eight sleep and eight personal time. Granted, when duty calls our staff is always willing to help people in need.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
Don’t try to grow too fast. Never put the cart in front of the horse. When I first started the business I jumped the gun and got too big too fast and it backfired on me. I realized quickly that I lacked the skills needed to manage several employees.
The biggest lesson learned is that everything takes at least twice as long and four times as much capital than expected.
owned startup in a brand new industry.
GlassHouse is an EU-GMP certified medicinal cannabis cultivator and processor of dry flower produced for export to the E.U., U.K. and Australia.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
There are many challenges for a privately-
Aside from starting from scratch, building your own facility, hiring a new team and developing your own standard operating procedures, the biggest challenge would be navigating the significant regulatory requirements in Canada and Germany to obtain our Health Canada cannabis license and EU GMP certification. It took years and a significant amount of capital.
What did you do to address it?
From the outset, our business plan was to produce cannabis that could be exported to the larger markets overseas. In order to focus on that one goal, we hired the right leaders and a team that worked tirelessly to reach
our goals. We were also fortunate to be able to develop strategic partnerships to help carry us to where we were going.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson learned is that everything takes at least twice as long and four
times as much capital than expected. A startup definitely needs significant cash reserves to get through the first few years of construction and operations before profitability can be achieved.
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
What started as a humble vegetable garden to feed a small family has grown into an Ottawa Valley agri-tourism destination offering everything from accommodation and dining to education and tours.
In April, Ottawa Valley Farm to Fork received the new tourism product award from the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association for the farm’s focus on agri-tourism, including its farm-to-table dining events.
The original 100-square-foot barn, which was built in the 1860s, was renovated to transform the hayloft into a dining and event hall where Ottawa Valley Farm to Fork hosts farm-to-table dinners for up to 60 people, featuring entertainment and music as well as an organic, home-grown meal.
A farmhouse on the property offers overnight accommodations for up to six people, and the farm also has a new space that will function as a bike stop and market.
“It’s all about this newest revenue stream,” said Katherine Lindhorst, who owns the business with husband Marshall Buchanan. “People can park their bike or vehicle and linger and come to events here, get a farm tour, learn about the operations, enjoy the food… These are all the new elements.
“It’s interesting. People really like the vibe, and they slow down and disconnect from their electronic devices and connect with nature.”
The farm is positioned at the intersection of several motorcycle and bicycle routes, which Lindhorst said creates a “hub” in the new market and gathering space.
“People can come and learn about
when she met Buchanan, an environmental specialist and professional forester teaching natural resources technology to Gwich’in and Inuvialuit students at Aurora College in Inuvik, N.W.T.
In 2000, Buchanan and Lindhorst bought the 50-acre farm in Scotch Butch, a rural community about 35 kilometres west of Renfrew. What began as a hobby farm soon grew into a full-scale operation. The original property has expanded to include 75 acres across the road and is home to Scottish Highland cattle, free-range chickens and dairy goats, as well as fields upon fields of heritage fruits and vegetables.
“We’ve always been organic, but now we’re more than organic because we do regenerative agriculture,” said Lindhorst. “Our animals output from eating plants here and then we use their manure to compost and feed the soil for the vegetables to grow.
“It creates great-tasting vegetables and we know it’s free from any herbicide or pesticide or chemical,” she continued. “We eat all of it, but we also want to make sure anyone who buys from our farm has that confidence of where it came from.”
As she looks to the future, Lindhorst said she and Buchanan would like to offer more educational opportunities about agriculture, farming and sustainability.
“All the other aspects would continue, but for small farms to survive, they need a variety of revenue streams,” she said. “We both have an education element of our work, so we’d love to continue more with the educational aspect within agriculture.”
regenerative agriculture, meet the animals, view their role in the cycle of things, and you could add on … a picnic, or buy products, or stay overnight,” she explained.
Lindhorst grew up in Montreal, where she trained as a dietician at McGill University and earned her master’s in nutrition. After working a variety of nutrition roles, Lindhorst moved to the Arctic to work with First Nations and Inuit on healthy eating, food security and maternal and child health programs.
She says she has always felt deeply connected to her food — and where it comes from.
“Growing up, we always had a garden,” explained Lindhorst. “It’s fundamental to who I am to have agency over the food I eat and know where it comes from and how the environment is treated.”
Lindhorst was returning from the Arctic
By learning more about agriculture, farming and nutrition, she said it helps everyone grow.
“We have school trips here and the kids are fascinated to watch me pull a carrot straight out of the ground,” said Lindhorst. “People are so disconnected from their food because we can get anything we want at the grocery store any time of the year.
“People used to have family on farms they could visit, but that’s getting more rare,” she continued. “We’ve lost our connection to the farm.
“People really like to come and look at the animals and I understand, because every day the animals make me smile and being somewhere like this can really change you,” said Lindhorst. “The centre of our logo is a person growing like a plant, which I think is fundamental to who we are, because on a farm, it isn’t just crops.
“We like to help people grow and grow ourselves.”
Businesses are investing in Cornwall, and together with the public sector are helping to transform the city by creating new housing, new employment opportunities and stronger community organizations.
Come join us as we create a sustainable community, where the only limit is your imagination.
“The community has been very welcoming,” according to Gomis. “The mayor and city council have been transparent, and we’ve done the same.” Part of that relationship is built on Walmart’s investment in Cornwall beyond its distribution centre. The company has supported local charities, sports teams, and cultural events to cement its place in a growing community.
2024-07-15 2:52 PM
Thereare plenty of changes afoot just east of Cornwall, where distribution centres — an oftenforgotten but crucial part of our supply chain — are rising alongside the existing Walmart Distribution Centres just off the McDonald-Cartier Freeway.
Since 2005, the two 1.5-million-sq. ft. distribution centres have employed over 2,500 workers and have served retail locations across eastern Canada. Alongside Walmart, there is a 900,000-sq. ft. Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaw distribution centre, and a new 984,000-sq. ft. Michelin distribution centre, which is set to open at the end of October. Combined, that’s over five million square feet of warehouse space.
This is no coincidence. Cornwall has emerged as a crucial link in the supply chain, joining Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area as a distribution hub. With access to Highway 401, a Canadian National Railway main line, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, distributors
With new centres from Walmart, Michelin, and Loblaw, Cornwall solidifies its role as a key player in Canada’s supply chain. SPONSORED CONTENT
There have, of course, been challenges for Walmart and other distribution centres in the area. The pandemic led to heightened demand for products and fewer workers to fulfill orders. “Unique solutions were implemented, and there is less strain on labour now as Cornwall has grown,” says Rodriguez. “The city seems aware of what strategies need to be in place to avoid future labour market crunches.”
are just a short trip away from any regional city or international port, with connections to Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.
It’s something that attracted Walmart to Cornwall in the first place, says Jeremiah Rodriguez, Vice-President of DC operations, East. “When the paper mill left in 2005, it provided an opportunity to open up our business,” he says, citing an available workforce and a desirable location for the distribution centre. “It made a lot of sense to start here. We’re surprised it took so long for other companies to follow,” he adds.
Rene-Paul Gomis, Regional People Manager of logistics at Walmart, says Cornwall was also a factor in the company’s investment. “The City of Cornwall has had a clear strategy for businesses in logistics like ours,” he says. Other cost savings, like less expensive land and more affordable hydro rates from Quebec, helped seal the deal.
Attracting people from larger population centres like Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal to a smaller city like Cornwall can be a challenge, and it has sometimes been tough to find logistics experts willing to relocate. “Finding the right labour with the right skills is very challenging, but we’ve helped grow and develop our associates internally,” says Rodriguez.
That skilled labour is on the way, with St. Lawrence College launching a logistics program at its Cornwall campus and trucking companies expanding operations in the area. If you build it, they will come.
The future looks bright for Walmart, Loblaw, Michelin and other companies looking to open distribution centres in the community. The population is growing, connections are improving, costs are low, and the municipal government — keen to maintain the momentum — is helping businesses open as best it can. Keeping any insider secrets under wraps, Rodriguez sums it up by saying, “Of all the regions, Cornwall has the most capacity to grow, and that growth is coming.”
BY LAURA BYRNE PAQUET news@obj.ca
When you don’t have the time and budget for a long road trip but still want to escape the city, Carleton Place could be just the ticket. In fact, if you live in the west end, it’s probably quicker to drive to Carleton Place than to downtown Ottawa!
Here are seven great reasons to take a road trip to this charming Lanark County community:
1. Discover local artists. Not only are there several new art galleries, including the Carleton Place Gallery (210 Bridge St.) and the Arts Carleton Place Art Hub (50 Bennett St., unit 1), but the town is
1 3 5
currently hosting Art Expedition, with works by 50 local artists on banners throughout downtown.
2. Relax on the Mississippi River. No, not that Mississippi River. However, Lanark County’s Mississippi River is also scenic and it flows right through downtown Carleton Place. Launch your boat or hit the beach at Riverside Park (175 John St.), or just settle onto the pretty deck at the Waterfront Gastropub (12 Bell St.) with a beer and a burger.
3. Pop into a coffee shop. Even though I don’t drink coffee, the existence of a good coffee shop is one of my criteria for a great road trip destination. As long as it serves tea and pastries, I’m
good. Downtown Carleton Place has several nice coffee shops, including Foundry Collective and Coffee Bar (122 Bridge St.). With big windows and free wi-fi, it’s a pleasant place to linger with friends or even catch up on your email (if you must).
4. Stop by a memorable visitor centre. How many visitor centres are located in an 1850s log cabin that’s rumoured to be haunted? The one in Carleton Place (170 Bridge St.) is the only one I can think of. Bonus: it rents out bicycles by the hour and is also home to a museum focusing on the life of A. Roy Brown, arguably the town’s most famous son. Which brings me to …
5. Learn some local history. Brown was a First World War flying ace credited with shooting down none other than the
Red Baron. After you’ve learned about him at the visitor centre, drop into the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum (267 Edmund St.) to delve into some other local stories. Admission is free. And nearby, you’ll discover one of the town’s most unusual attractions …
6. Walk a labyrinth. Right behind the museum is the pretty (and also free) Carleton Place Labyrinth. Quiet your busy mind with a slow stroll around its curving path, then relax on a bench under the welcome shade of the surrounding trees. Trust me, it really is calming.
7. Have a delicious dinner. Carleton Place has lots of nice restaurants, but my favourite is Black Tartan Kitchen (132 Bridge St.). Here’s why. I used to think I didn’t like venison or carpaccio, but chef Ian Carswell’s venison carpaccio changed my mind on both counts. Tender, flavourful and not at all gamey, it made me a believer. And I’ve never been disappointed by the other dishes I’ve tried on the regularly changing menu, either.
Award-winning Ottawa travel writer Laura Byrne Paquet shares her sightseeing tips for Eastern Ontario and beyond on her website, Ottawa Road Trips.
BY LAURA BYRNE PAQUET news@obj.ca
If you’re looking for a road trip destination with riverside parks, lots of locally owned shops and restaurants and even an Art Deco-inspired bowling alley, Arnprior — just 40 kilometres west of the Canadian Tire Centre — is the place to go.
Located where the Madawaska River flows into the Ottawa River, Arnprior began as a logging community. Later, it became a hub for textile mills and marble quarries. You can delve into that history at the Arnprior and District Museum (35 Madawaska St.), located in a former Victorian post office with a landmark clock tower.
After your museum visit, leave time to browse the shops of Arnprior’s humming downtown. Kitty-corner from the museum, KOTi 28 (158 John St. N.) stocks housewares and jewelry from around the world, including Swedish blankets and Finnish dishes.
A few doors down at White Pine Books and Children’s Boutique (152 John St. N.), you’ll find a nice selection of novels, books by local authors, cookbooks, and kids’ clothing.
On the same street, you could check out Jade & Laney (108 John St. N.) for local and other Canadian-made clothing and accessories, and Valley Girls Clothing Company (90 John St. N.) for women’s clothing in sizes from small to 4X.
Around the corner, Bee Savvy Fine Foods (14 Elgin St. W.) sells its own line of honey and a wide range of other producers’ gourmet foods.
Fans of vintage clothing, antiques and consignment shops will find lots to enjoy in Arnprior. For instance, The Village Crate (159 John St. N.) sells a mix of new and antique housewares and gifts, from candles and coasters to typewriters and vintage duck decoys. Johnie’s Vintage (54 Madawaska St.) is a great source of stylish vintage clothing and housewares, while Racked
Consignment Shoppe (12 Elgin St. W.) has a great mix of casual and upscale apparel.
A bit outside the downtown core, Antiques, Treasures and Treats (260 Elgin St. W.) is a packed antiques shop spread across several buildings.
Of course, road-trippers can’t live by shopping alone, which is why I highly recommend you stop by the well-named Mighty Fine Bakehouse (79 Madawaska St.) for a muffin, croissant or brownie. You can also get soups, salads and sandwiches.
One of my other lunch-hour favourites is Krave Bistro (24 Elgin St. W.), where the varied menu features a selection of crepes. The delicious Kashmir crepe is loaded with chicken, mushrooms, peppers and shallots, topped with a goat cheese sauce.
To work off those treats, you could
head to Gillies Grove — one of the last remaining stands of old-growth white pine forest in the Ottawa Valley — and hike a two-kilometre trail. There are trailheads at the west end of Ottawa Street and the north end of John Street.
If you’ve brought your canoe, kayak or standup paddleboard, the beach at Robert Simpson Park (400 John St. N.) is an easy place to slip it into the Ottawa River. Alternatively, you could head to Steelheads & Strikes (120 John St. N.).
Matthew and Alicia Ott, who also own Bee Savvy, recently gave their five-pin bowling alley an Art Deco spin with a little help from HGTV’s Bryan Baeumler. His show “Bryan’s All In” documented the transformation, which included installing a sleek cocktail bar at the entrance. It’s a popular place for private parties.
How to create housing, boost the economy and create an equitable city by harnessing talent
Ottawa is a unique place. We are a city of a million people and growing. We are the capital of a G7 country and, as the second largest city in Ontario, we are an economic centre for growth. Our tourism sector is worth over $2 billion a year, attracting visitors to our national museums, heritage sites and parks, many of which are managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC) or the federal government.
Ottawa, as a city, is in the throes of an economic boom thanks to the many investments being made by the federal government. Ongoing and pending restoration of the Centre Block and the Supreme Court will provide jobs and economic growth, for years. This will build on the success of the recently completed East Block and former Ottawa Union Station.
While a much-lauded downtown reinvestment strategy has been launched, implementation is far too slow. Badly worded and unfair RFPs (Requests for Proposal) for office to housing conversions, coupled with municipal underinvestment in streets, transit and housing combine to inhibit change.
While there may be vision for how our downtown needs to evolve, there is a lack of vision for excellence in how we want our City to grow and be considered among fellow G7 capitals like London, Paris, Tokyo or Washington.
Our investment in Light Rail Transit has had, at best, mixed results; reliability and affordability continue to be challenges and public trust has been eroded with funding and service cuts despite enhanced budgets for roads and other projects. We’ve opted to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lansdowne 2.0; initial audit reports suggest increased cost (and debt), significantly adding to municipal property taxes. Despite the growing popularity of PWHL, a new Lansdowne arena will be smaller than the existing space. More than two years ago we approved a revitalization of the famed ByWard Market but committed nearly no funding and, years later, the plan, which largely ignored public
input, remains a non-priority.
Decades of austerity budgeting and low value investment continue to haunt us.
According to the Ottawa Construction Association, year to date housing starts are down 28% from this time last year while single detached permits have risen 7% in the same time frame. According to recent data, only 7% of recent building permit applications (43 projects worth $75m) are for apartments. More than half of all permit applications remain for single detached homes (315 applications worth $57m).
This needs to change. We need to incentivize more moderately dense housing and focus on development that fulfills our ambitious Official Plan goals; that requires bold leadership with a vision for excellence.
Fewer housing starts may be a result of the last 18 months of changes in provincial planning policy, combined with higher interest rates and a sluggish economy. However, our municipal approach to funding infrastructure can play a big part in this: punitive and inequitable development charges disincentivize urban investment to subsidize suburban development.
Decades of underfunding in transit have undermined reliability and affordability, creating a vicious cycle of reduced ridership; the result is that more people drive, further congesting roads and highways which benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in provincial highway funding, not to mention commitment to spend nearly a billion dollars in municipal road expansion in the coming years.
We need a rethink of our approach.
We need to re-examine how development charges (DCs) are assessed. More than 50% of development charge costs are assigned to roads, sewers and transit infrastructure which already exist in an urban, developed, site. What effect would a 50% reduction on DCs have in urban development given that an urban project generally imposes no new roads, sewers or transit expansion?
We need to look at how we plan social
infrastructure like parks, schools, libraries and community centres. We have billions of dollars’ worth in buildings and parks within the most densely populated areas; most of these places have seen little or no substantive investment in a generation and are in poor condition. Reinvesting to meet current community needs, not to mention upgrades to become resilient and accessible and will help restore beauty and pride in our communities, will attract people to live and work in the area.
Ottawa can learn from cities like Montreal by enacting a city-wide, year-round, bike share program that is part of our transit network; even in winter, the Bixi bike program expects 4,000 daily users. If successful car-free transformations can work in Montreal, Vancouver or Paris, they can work here if we create the right framework for success. We need to end the “paralysis by analysis” mindset.
Ottawa can launch a design competition for the ByWard Market; an ideas competition can attract creative solutions that consider the Market as a whole, including broad issues of social justice, equity and heritage. A juried short list of creative solutions can be publicly presented similar to the Sudbury 2050 Competition. A parallel professional competition can request expressions of interest from architectural teams, shortlisting firms to develop ideas addressing the historic market area, tackling the challenges of the unhoused and healthcare needs and broadly create a plan for renewal.. Key to this is municipal commitment to excellence and funding, tied to a vision for the city we aspire to be.
Similarly, Ottawa can launch design competitions for housing, as Edmonton recently did, attracting international attention to develop some of the hundreds of public properties available. Resulting projects can build housing at varying densities that combine economic viability, social benefit and high-quality design.
To make #OurBestOttawa we need to harness the talent, resources and ideas in our city to create positive, socially transformative and beautiful infrastructure. This applies to not just conventional ideas of infrastructure like roads and transit, but to social infrastructure, like parks and community space, and to policy development in how we plan, commission and fund our city.
The time is now.
Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region is dedicated to addressing the affordable housing crisis in our community through innovative building projects and community engagement. We empower local business owners to become partners in our mission, promoting self-reliance, stability, and strength within our neighbourhoods. By collaborating with us, businesses can contribute to impactful initiatives like our upcoming Tiny Home Project, which aims to provide shelter for those in need. Join us in building a stronger community. Your support not only transforms lives but also enhances your brand’s reputation as a socially responsible entity committed to making Kingston a better place for all.
Local businesses can play a vital role in supporting Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region through various engagement opportunities. By sponsoring projects like our Tiny Home initiative, businesses can directly impact the lives of those in need, showcasing their commitment to social responsibility. Additionally, companies can participate in fundraising events, volunteer days, or donation drives, which not only enhance team building but also foster a sense of community.
For more information on how to get involved, visit our website at www.habitatkingston.com, email us at communityengagement@habitatkingston.com, or call us at 613-548-8763.
Together, we can build a brighter tomorrow.
