Message from the Mayor Markham leads the way in supporting small business, through the pandemic.

Message from the MAYOR

Warm greetings to the Markham Board of Trade and its members. I want to acknowledge and thank the Markham Board of Trade for their collaboration and efforts throughout the current public health crisis. It has been a period of immense challenges for both the City and Markham Board of Trade members and your cooperation has been greatly appreciated as we have navigated through an unprecedented time in history. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I am hopeful we are entering a period of strong economic recovery. I am happy to provide you an update from City Hall on what has been a busy time at the City of Markham.

This year, the City of Markham is celebrating 50 years of excellence. The roots of The Corporation of the City of Markham date back to the creation of the Regional Municipality of York on January 1, 1971 when Unionville, Milliken, Thornhill and Markham Village were consolidated to form the Town of Markham. For 50 years, Markham has been on the forefront of innovation and this year we are celebrating the business and academic institutions that have made us a hub for innovation. Markham is proud to be home to skilled talent and a robust and diverse ecosystem of companies that makes it an ideal place to invest and grow a business.

Throughout the pandemic, the City of Markham has taken a fiscally responsible approach to managing our finances. We cautiously reintroduced services based on demand while adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols, looked for additional efficiencies, redeployed staff, streamlined processes and leveraged new technology. During the early days of the pandemic, we continued doing what we do best: innovating. We collaborated with IBM Canada to introduce a virtual assistant using artificial intelligence technology to provide trusted information on COVID-19 to residents and businesses. We did not stop there. We became the first municipality in Canada to join the Digital Mainstreet ShopHERE program offering transformational support to local businesses to expand their services to include online transactions. Markham Council moved swiftly to allow for restaurant bar and patio extensions and activated our new tourism board, Destination Markham Corporation. The City of Markham is here to support you and we encourage Markham businesses to connect with our Department of Economic Growth, Culture and Entrepreneurship including the Markham Small Business Centre to learn what programs and services are in place to assist during COVID-19.

There is no City of Markham property tax increase in 2021. This current year has brought unprecedented challenges for residents and businesses and we are committed to lessening the burden to our property taxpayers. In addition to approving a 0% tax increase for 2021, Markham Council also approved a suite of relief measures for residents and businesses to assist them during the pandemic. These measures included waiving of late payment charges on 2020 property taxes to December 31, 2020; elimination of the 2020 Stormwater Fee; elimination of planned 2020 water rate increase; and the suspension of the Municipal Accommodation Tax. We continue to have the lowest 16-year average tax rate increase in the GTA at 2.08% and we will continue investing in infrastructure, creating strong and resilient neighbourhoods.

I have been impressed by how our community has come together throughout the pandemic in support of one another. Our community has never been more united and together. Throughout the pandemic, Markham Board of Trade members have supported our community by donating personal protective equipment and food for our frontline workers, as well as made donations to support health care institutions. I want to thank the Markham Board of Trade and its members for their kind generosity. Recently the Markham Board of Trade, with support of the City of Markham launched a campaign to provide free-COVID-19 Rapid Antigen test kits to businesses. This is another example of how we’re working together to equip Markham small businesses with screening & prevention tools to protect employees and the public. I strongly encourage our community to support local businesses, including restaurants as we recover and rebuild our economy. I wish all members of the Markham Board of Trade a good summer season and I thank you for your commitment and dedication to our community.

Sincerely,

Frank Scarpitti Markham Mayor

Markham Is Leading the Way in Supporting Small Businesses Through the Pandemic

The City of Markham’s first-in-Canada initiatives are helping business owners access resources, learn new skills, and create an online presence.

By Abigail Cukier

Shortly after he had to temporarily close his storefront due to COVID-19 restrictions, Garry Thorpe was able to open a new door to his business.

Thorpe and his wife, Vanda, own Pineapple Design in the City of Markham, which provides interior design and space planning and sells custom furniture. When Markham became the fi rst municipality in the country to join the Canada-wide expansion of the Digital Main Street ShopHERE powered by Google program, Thorpe signed up.

ShopHERE provides independent small businesses and artists with a quick, easy, and no-cost way to get selling online. Participants get free access to one-to-one support from e-commerce experts to help sell their work or services online. ShopHERE is funded by the federal government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the Province of Ontario, and key corporate partners. Students provide training in setting up and operating the online stores.

While most of Pineapple Design’s business is in-person design planning, Thorpe sells home décor items on his site and showcases custom furniture. Many people discover Pineapple Design through the site, purchase small items, and then hire the company to do in-home design. “It has been excellent. We’re more visible to a much larger audience,” says Thorpe. “It’s truly a path to the future.” This article was sponsored by the City of Markham.

Small businesses are integral to community success ShopHERE is just one example of how Markham has been a leader in supporting its small businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. “Small businesses support the bulk of employment in our community and are an integral part of our success,” says Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “An online presence allows them to be competitive, now and in the long term.”

The city created the Markham Small Business Recovery and Digital Resilience Program, which provides training and advice on how business owners can establish their online presence. The program also awarded grants of up to $5,000 to more than 25 businesses to help with implementation. The city’s tourism board, Destination Markham, quickly pivoted to help with economic recovery, running publicity campaigns showcasing local businesses and visiting businesses to make sure owners knew about support programs from all levels of government.

In December, Markham established a first-in-Canada partnership with SkipTheDishes to offer zero commission fees to restaurants for their first 30 days and to provide residents with free delivery throughout the holidays to help restaurants gain back some of their lost seasonal business.

Partnerships are key to success In partnership with York University’s YSpace, the city delivered the Founder Fundamentals series to teach community members the core skills needed to start a business. The programming is part of YSpace Markham, which is an incubator that provides collaboration space, mentoring, and workshops, bringing potential startups together with experienced entrepreneurs and investors. “YSpace is a great success story and an example of how a university can partner with the community and create an ecosystem where you’ve got established businesses supporting new ideas from entrepreneurs and providing students with experiential learning to develop that talent pipeline,” says Lisa Philipps, Provost and Vice President Academic at York University. With all of these initiatives in place, Mayor Scarpitti is optimistic. “There’s a burning desire from the public to get back into restaurants, celebrate milestones, and enjoy our Main Street,” he says. “It will take time before businesses heal from the economic pain. We’ll do everything we can to support small business and to keep some of these initiatives going.” If you’re a small business, find out how the City of Markham can help you grow at business.markham.ca.

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Silicon hardware

lab, a game changer for Markham’s tech hub

By Duncan Fletcher

IBM Innovation Space at the Markham Convergence Centre, set up on the sprawling Markham IBM campus in 2017, was meant to be a hub for Canadian tech innovation.

With an initial IBM investment of close to $24M and a 22.75M investment from the Ontario Jobs and Prosperity Fund, the nonprofit space was also seen as a way to ensure Markham was well positioned in the future to be a destination of choice for technology firms to create globally competitive companies, building and scaling in Canada.

The 50,000 sq/ft space has acquired more partners and funding and is well on its way to fulfilling those initial goals.

The lab is host to over 45 tech companies and industry partners including a yearly roster of promising start-ups that are admitted through a competition to a development program where they can access the lab’s topof-the-line resources for free. A number of the start-ups are local and all of them are Canadian.

The resources include access to capital, business and marketing expertise, talent and customer acquisition and unparalleled networking opportunities. Importantly, the innovation space offers access to cutting-edge technology and testing equipment for semiconductor-focused development. In

The layman’s terms, testing of computer chips that enable the essential software in gadgets used in every corner of our lives.

This last part is where the Hardware Catalyst Initiative (HCI) comes in. This hardware engineering lab, in the words of HCI Director Frank Spagnuolo, “enables software ideas. We have test equipment that is state-of-the-art, very expensive and very sophisticated that these companies now have access to. This lab is an electrical engineer’s Candyland.”

We have test equipment that is state-of-theart, very expensive and very sophisticated

This equipment is the key to success, says Abdoulaye Berthe, founder and CEO of SmartComm, one of the 2021 cohort of startups and a maker of chips enabling Bluetooth devices like earbuds, hearing aids and smart home gadgets.

This lab creates access to technology locally and avoids the need to travel to Silicone Valley.

“For companies like ours, the lab is very valuable as it enables us to save time, execute effectively and offers cost-savings, all of which are critical for us at this stage of the company,” Berthe says. “Things would be way too hard without access to this lab.”

Gap Wireless, an HCI partner and a Canadian tech leader, supplies some of the equipment Berthe references. Sales Manager Mike Gordon offers that “this lab provides a unique environment for ambitious people with great ideas to pursue an entrepreneurial environment to grow their ideas. Gap Wireless is a big proponent on seeing Canadian Industry succeed, and that is why we are involved.”

With $6M in equipment already in place, HCI recently got a major boost this spring in the form of a $4.7M investment from the federal government to “virtualize” HCI’s abilities and further assert the importance of Markham’s place in the $2.7 trillion semiconductor industry that produces almost five indirect jobs for every semiconductor job and over $7 trillion in global economic activity.

One of the reasons the lab is in demand is that they are impartial with no other purpose than to help locals. Spagnuolo points out HCI – which collaborates with other labs, institutions and industry partners as needed – is non-profit and owns none of the intellectual property developed in the lab. It all stays with the participating businesses.

“Tell us what you need,” he says. “We’ll help you get it.” HCI also signs non-disclosure agreements with all participants and ensures that potentially competing projects are developed apart from each other – unless they want to work together. In which case, Spagnuolo says, they can network as they please to mutual benefit.

Finally, Spagnuolo wants to point out that what HCI does is not abstract scientific experimentation but has very direct application to our everyday lives. It’s meant to bring useful, profitable Canadian ideas to life creating jobs and opportunities.

Chips are at the heart of many of the products we use in everyday life now and more so in the future. Cell phones and computers are the most obvious use, but these chips allow the function of sensors in your car to indicate when fuel is low, if another car is too close or keeps your GPS on track among other things. They are key to the function of drones, planes, pacemakers and other medical devices, robotics, manufacturing processes, and agricultural production.

“You name it, there’s always a hardware component inside,” Spagnuolo says with a laugh. “Semi-conductors are the future of everything!”

And the future is here in Markham.