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CFDC Central Okanagan Elects New Board of Directors

devonsailernewDevon Sailer - Chairperson

Devon is a Kelowna resident, a UBCO Business graduate and a Commercial Account Manager at RBC. He has actively participated on the Youth Means Business Advisory Committee, Entrepreneurship Committee, Loan Committee and Board Directors of the CFDCCO and was elected to be Chairperson at the 2015 AGM. Devon is a keen business analyst who provides exceptional business knowledge and advice to the CFDCCO.

barbnewphotoBarbra Johnston - Past Chairperson

Barbra is a West Kelowna resident, a former CFDCCO client and strong advocate of the organization. As a result, Barbra has served as a Director and on the Loans and Investment Review Committee for CFDCCO since 2002. She owns and operates Nature's Formulae Health Products Ltd, a nutraceutical manufacturing business that now employs over 80 people in Kelowna.

una gabieUna Gabie - Corporate Secretary

Una is a Kelowna resident, Lawyer and Partner at Touchstone Law Group LLP. Una has been practicing law in Kelowna since April of 2008 and in 2012, Una founded Touchstone Law Group LLP in Kelowna with a partner. This new venture provides an opportunity to combine her law practice with the chance to engage more in the business side of the legal industry. Una focuses primarily on business law, real estate, wills and estates. She enjoys working closely with clients and referral sources on both their personal and business related matters and also enjoys working with both first time homebuyers, new business start-ups in addition to well established businesses in the Okanagan. Una strives to provide highly personal services to her clients in an expedient manner. Una is Director at the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, an active member of the CFDCCO Loans Committee and Board of Directors where she provides excellent legal and business direction to the organization and staff.

billmorrisonnew2

Bill Morrison - Treasurer

Bill is a Kelowna resident and a former satisfied client of CFDCCO and now chairs the Loans Review Committee. Bill is the founder and operator of The Jammery, a business located near Lake Country and at the entrance to Kelowna that combines a unique blend of agricultural land, restaurant, gift shop and jam production facility. Community Futures benefits from Bill's good sense of humour, decision making, entrepreneurial attitude and dedication to the community organizations and causes like Variety, the Children's Charity.

mark dixon new2Mark Dixon - Director

Mark is a Kelowna resident and CEO at ESD Simulation Training who established his company in 1989 and then went on to become the industry leader in dynamic simulation training worldwide. With offices in Scotland, Canada, Australia and the United States, and agents in Africa and Malaysia, ESD Simulation Training is able to deliver a broad range of open access and in-house seminars on topics. Mark has been a CFDCCO Director since 2011 and is also President of Inn from the Cold, a valuable non-profit society operating shelters and outreach programs in the Central Okanagan.

briankempnewBrian Kemp - Director

Brian is a West Kelowna resident and Senior Account Manager for the Business Development Bank. His previous experience was in sales with a large consumer product company and also in hotel resort management in Fernie. Brian has been a Director since 2012. He possesses valuable loan analysis and business plan review skills. Brian has a young active family and enjoys living and working in the Okanagan.

Ched GaglardiChed Gaglardi - Director

Ched is a successful Lake Country technology based company founder and CEO. As one of the founders of Beelineweb.com, his cordial, down-to-earth approach to business helps set the tone for the office. His accomplished background in finance, marketing, and other successful ventures ensures our ability to create and maintain tremendous value for our clients. Ched stays involved in the community, volunteering his time and knowledge to promote local economic development. His steady temperament inspires trust and confidence, no matter the circumstances. And with his optimistic and jovial demeanor, it's no wonder he has a reputation for making friends everywhere he goes. Ched is an active member of the Entrepreneurship Committee and served on the CFDCCO Board a number of years ago before rejoining the Board in 2015.

 

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Economic Development Commission Wins National Recognition

Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission Earns National Economic Development Achievement of the Year Award

KELOWNA CMA, BC – The Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission (COEDC) is the proud recipient of the 2015 EDAC / RBC Royal Bank Economic Development Achievement of the Year Award from the Economic Development Association of Canada (EDAC) for its Okanagan Young Professionals (OYP) Collective program. The award was presented at EDAC’s 47th National Economic Development Conference in Whitehorse on September 22, 2015.

Established in February 2012, the OYP Collective, the first program of its kind facilitated by an Economic Development Organization in Canada, has become the collective umbrella that fosters and supports the existing community groups by opening the lines of communication, helping cross-pollinate memberships, as well as hosting its own outstanding events and activities, all with a focus and shared vision of creating a dynamic, vibrant and engaged culture that attracts and retains talented professionals in their 20’s and 30’s to the Okanagan Region.

The OYP has gained significant traction over the last three years:
• To date the OYP has raised over $260,000 in funds and services for non-profits and charities.
• Over 3000 volunteer hours of business service valued at $150,000 (accounting, web development, business planning, HR, etc.) have been provided to local not-for-profit agencies.
• Social media reach has increased exponentially to 1019 followers on Twitter, 1162 likes on Facebook, 660 monthly website visitors, and 455 newsletter subscribers with a weekly reach of up to 1500.

The EDAC/RBC Economic Development Achievement of the Year Awards recognizes the evolving excellence in community driven economic development projects across Canada and it is only given to one community-driven economic development project every year. Projects are assessed on degree of originality, involvement of community partners, effectiveness of the delivery mechanism, and attainment of program goals and objectives.

Corie Griffiths, Manager for the COEDC, states “It is a great honour to have the COEDC’s Okanagan Young Professionals Collective program selected among the many exceptional economic development projects taking place across Canada. We are very thankful for the recognition and want to acknowledge the collaboration and continued support from many organizations and individuals in the community that contribute to the OYP’s continued success”.

To learn more about the OYP Collective visit www.investkelowna.com/our-programs and www.oypcollective.com

For questions or more information please contact:

Corie Griffiths
Manager, Economic Development Commission
Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission
Regional District of Central Okanagan
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
250-469-6280

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WTFast is Runner Up in 2015 Small Business Challenge

Posted From The Globe and Mail link to original story

Here are the four runners-up for the 2015 Small Business Challenge contest along with advice for each from the contest judges. The winner of the contest was AquaMobile Inc. To see all of the Challenge coverage, click here.

Matthew Sherwood for The Globe and Mail

MyBabbo

Toronto-based MyBabbo creates memorial photo books, video tributes and memorial websites and sells these products through funeral homes. Tracy Rossetti, above, the company’s founder, wants to scale operations beyond MyBabbo’s 2 per cent penetration of funeral homes in Canada. She says to do this, she needs an onboarding process for hiring new designers and video creators. She also wants to launch mini-websites where clients can view their books and order more products.

What the judges say: MyBabbo should venture beyond funeral homes and go direct to consumers and expand its focus from hard-copy books to digital products that are easier to share, says Sean Stanleigh, managing editor at The Globe and Mail’s Globe Content Studio. “MyBabbo should boost their Web offering so families are able to share their information and photos,” Mr. Stanleigh says. “The company should then take its marketing online so they can showcase both hard-copy and digital products – a strategy that might also draw more funeral homes, resulting in a double win for the business.”

Jennifer Roberts for The Globe and Mail

PathCore Inc.

Toronto-based PathCore Inc. takes some of the guesswork out of disease diagnosis with image-analysis software that provides precise measures of cancer indicators. The company also offers a technology platform – which it recently moved to the Cloud – that allows health-care professionals to view and manage pathology data. PathCore co-founders Dan Hosseinzadeh, above, and Anne Martel want to provide their product via the Web to pathology laboratories around the world, starting with the United States. But they need money to present their technology to some of the best U.S. hospitals.

What the judges say: Katherine Scarrow, digital content strategist at the Globe, says there’s no denying PathCore’s value proposition is strong. But a key challenge for the company’s leaders is articulating clearly what PathCore does, how the company generates revenue and what makes its technology best-of-class. “One suggestion for PathCore would be to leverage existing relationships and capitalize on the halo effect,” Ms. Scarrow says. “Testimonials from, for example, a doctor at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre or a researcher from Ryerson University would go a long way in helping the company tell its story and ‘humanize’ the technology.”

Kevin Van Paassen for The Globe and Mail

BakerStone International

With a price tag of about $130, BakerStone International’s portable pizza oven box is a more palatable alternative to other, significantly pricier models in the market. About 50,000 BakerStone oven boxes sold last year through retailers in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Europe and Latin America. Lewis Rose, above, and Tim Case, the business partners behind BakerStone, want to spread the word about their product. They believe infomercials are the way to go.

What the judges say: Ami Richter of Lug Canada Inc. advises BakerStone to rethink its strategy of betting a big wad of dollars on infomercials. From the onset, the company was a favourite among Challenge judges. “However, they were so completely stuck on using the entire grand prize money on an infomercial,” notes Ms. Richter. “If they had shown more flexibility and given some consideration to the judges’ encouragement to really rethink this strategy, I think the outcome could have been very different. I would recommend for BakerStone to use the Challenge as an opportunity to re-evaluate its marketing and sales strategy, because it really does have an impressive product.”

Jeff Bassett for The Globe and Mail

WTFast

WTFast, a technology platform developed and owned by Kelowna, B.C.-based AAA Internet Publishing Inc., keeps online gamers happy by reducing the online lag that can occur in multiplayer video games played over a network. Rob Bartlett, above, WTFast’s co-founder and chief executive, says that to keep the business growing, he and his partners need to invest in research and development. They also need to put more dollars into marketing and business development. But going to industry events, where they can talk to potential users face-to-face, is an expensive proposition.

What the judges say: Being a Challenge contest semi-finalist has already set WTFast on the right path to boosting its marketing and advertising. Lug Canada’s Ms. Richter urges the company’s owners to make the most of the media exposure they’re getting through The Globe and Mail and Telus Corp. “Spread it as far as they can since marketing was one of the needs they listed,” she says. “I would recommend that they share any writeups and press releases about the Challenge contest to pique interest from industry-specific writers and help garner additional editorials and media opportunities. This will help to spread awareness of WTFast and its platform, and get people talking.”

About the contest

Now in its fifth year, The Globe and Mail’s Small Business Challenge Contest received a record-breaking 3,000-plus entries in 2015. Five semifinalists and the winner were chosen by a panel of judges that included The Globe and Mail’s Katherine Scarrow, Steve Tustin and Sean Stanleigh, Jim Senko and Suzanne Trusdale from Telus, Ami Richter of Lug Canada and Chris Griffiths of Fine Tune Consulting. The grand prize winner gets $100,000 cash from Telus while all five semi-finalists receive $10,000 and a Business Prize package that includes $2,000 worth of Telus services or devices, a one-year subscription to Globe Unlimited, and mentoring from a business expert. The Challenge is also giving Regional Recognition prizes of three business devices each to 10 businesses from the country’s Atlantic, North, West and Central regions; winners will be announced in October. Also recognized will be three Most Promising Startups and 50 Honourable Mentions.

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Immersive Media Wins Emmy

Emmy win for local firm

by | Castanet Story: 147582 -

Quite a coup for a Kelowna tech company.

Immersive Media has won an Emmy for Original Interactive Program, for its work on Taylor Swift's AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience.

The local company created the content for the video, which was made available as a free app.

"We used our cameras and our technology to capture the whole space for this music video," said Ryan Whitehead with Immersive Media.

"We worked with director Joseph Kahn and Taylor Swift to capture everything the way it needed to be captured and stitched all the imagery together, created the content and worked with an agency out of New York, who created an app to create this."

He said the video is more like a gaming experience than a music video.

"If you want to stay in one room and explore it, you could do that. If you want to continue on, you could click on a doorway and continue through the house and follow Taylor if you wanted to. It was almost like a game really."

Whitehead, and three other Kelowna men who worked on the project will all receive Emmy Awards for their work on the project.

The Emmy for Original Interactive Program was announced earlier this week, along with other behind-the-scenes winners, in advance of the Emmy broadcast Sept. 20.

"It was totally unexpected," Whitehead said of his reaction upon getting the news.

"It's something I never thought I'd personally be involved with. It's a pretty big accomplishment and a big feather in our cap. It's quite an honour."

Immersive Media created the 360 degree technology which was used on the project.

"Originally, we made the Google Street View project. That was our technology. We created the spherical cameras that captured that imagery and mapped it. We did the first 30 cities, then they took the project and ran with it," said Whitehead.

To view the 360 presentation, you must download the free app.

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18 Adventures, 1 Day

What Red Bull and New Zealand can do, the Okanagan can do better.

Or so a local adventure company and video crew aim to prove on Thursday.

Ayn Lexi of Okanagan Outdoor Adventures says a crew will be filming an "18 in 1" adventure video around Kelowna in response to Red Bull’s recent New Zealand "5 in 1" video. The numbers refer to the number of adventures that can be done in a single day, transitioning straight from one to another.    

The group will start off with a helicopter flight and landing at the paragliding launch site on Blue Grouse Mountain, where a stuntman will do a tandem flight, landing at Okanagan Lake to start into some water sports. 

Okanagan Outdoor Adventures partnered with Land Sea Air Canada and cameraman Jason Kenzie, aka A Photo Warrior, to produce the video promoting the many adventures the Okanagan has to offer.

“What prompted this video was when I saw one produced by Red Bull and commissioned by tourism New Zealand. They were showing that you can do their five big adventures all in one day, and I thought we can totally beat that," said Lexi.

"So, we will on Thursday.  In fact, we’re going to crush it! We have arranged for 18 adventures all to be shot on Thursday, with each transitioning from one to another, just like the Red Bull video."

Moving from mountain to lake, the activities will include wakeboarding, jet skiing, sailing, fly boarding, parasailing and a jet boat ride, ziplining, a leap off an 80-foot pole, mountain biking, a Harley, pedicab and a sidecar ride, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and a wine tour.

“It’s going to be an epic day, and it will be a great showcase for some of the adventures we have locally," said Lexi.

When complete, the video will be posted on the company’s website, www.okanaganoutdooradventures.com.

 
 
 
 
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The Coldest Business In Town

cryocarelogo

by | Castanet Story: 146997 -

The coldest business in Kelowna has just opened its doors.

It’s called cryotherapy, and it’s a treatment reportedly used to treat a variety of issues, including muscle soreness, arthritic pain and stress and headaches, among others.

Cryo Care, co-owned by two Kelowna residents, Taylor Saukarookoff and Devin Gibson, had its grand opening Tuesday.

They partnered with Inn from the Cold Kelowna, a community outreach program that helps homeless people, and donated their proceeds from their opening day to the program.

Gibson said the therapy taps into the body’s fight or flight response.

“Within the first 30 seconds, over 80 per cent of your body’s blood rushes to your body’s core,” he said. “There it gets filled with endorphins, enzymes, nutrients, oxygen, all the good stuff. After the treatment is over, all that blood, essentially supercharged with nutrients and all that good stuff, rushes back to your peripheral tissues brining with it a myriad of health benefits.”

Recently, a number of professional athletes have begun using the treatment to help prevent and heal injuries.

Gibson and Saukarookoff said the 2011 Dallas Mavericks used the therapy when they won their NBA championship.

In addition to personal testimonies about the therapy’s benefits, Gibson said there has been extensive scientific research into the therapy since it was first invented in 1978 in Japan to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

“Hundreds of studies,” Gibson said. “Primarily the studies have been done over in Europe.”

While the thought of stepping into a negative 150 degree chamber for up to three minutes may seem daunting, Saukarookoff said because there is no humidity in the air, the cold only affects half of a mm into your skin.

“It’s not like standing outside on a cold winter’s day,” Saukarookoff said. “You have to feel it in order to understand what I’m talking about, but it doesn’t have that sharp piercing cold.”

For a first-timer, a session costs $55. Check out Cryo Care’s website for more information.

click here for Castanet video link http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-146997-1-.htm#146997

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