Senior staffers from The Stiller Centre in London, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, and the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo talk about their region’s resources, areas of expertise and culture of innovation.

LONDON

The Stiller Centre for Technology Commercialization in London, Ontario opened in November of 2003. The incorporated, non-profit organization has 4 full-time staff and a platoon of prestigious backers including the Lawson Health Research Institute and the University of Western Ontario.

Prior to joining Stiller in 2005, Lee Smithson, general manager who has a Degree in Cell Biology, was a senior account manager for Fisher Scientific. Smithson headed up the shared services function at Stiller before becoming GM.

The Centre’s 2006 budget is largely supplied by the city, the University of Western Ontario and the MRI. In 2006, Stiller produced about $46 million in total investment across its flotilla of life sciences researchers, biofuel concerns and medical device manufacturers. Stiller offers the lowest-cost wet labs in Ontario.

The London area benefits from a strong research community, rent-by-the-hour lab space, the Western University’s Photonics and Nanotechnology Lab, and a regular supply of MBAs. The local presence of the Robarts Research Institute and the very active TechAlliance broadens the culture of innovation.

There is a range of corporate maturity and technical focus that provides good opportunity for organic collaboration, according to Smithson. Interested parties need a business plan, insurance and the ability to prove themselves to a review board.

Centre tenant Viron Therapeutics recently announced they are advancing to phase II clinical trials; a former Stiller tenant, Critical Outcome Technologies, launched an IPO in 2006.

Both larger and smaller companies are hiring and Smithson says London is an employee’s market. “It’s difficult to keep good staff. A lot of people jump from one company to the other within the London area.”

Stiller’s Convergence Lab offers equipment, coaching and business model development. The Centre offers an annual prize to a recent graduate that includes instrumentation, funding, business mentoring and introduction to potential sources of capitalization.

OTTAWA

The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) in Ottawa, Ontario first opened its doors in 1982. The non-profit corporation has about 80 staff, about two-thirds of whom are full time, according to Jeffrey Dale, president and CEO of OCRI since 2001.

Dale is the former president of Kom Networks, and has also held executive roles with Peleton Photonic Systems and SHL Systemhouse. “The OCRI was one of the first economic development corporations in Canada to put a focus on knowledge-based industries,” says Dale. The OCRI merged with OEDC in 2001, and with the OLSC in 2006.”

OCRI’s budget for 2006 was between eight and $10 million. The total investment across OCRI’s roster was nearly $265 million. The city, the province and federal government are key funding sources; the OCRI partners with prominent alliances in the education and corporate communities.

“We grew up on communications technology but have grown to have clusters in wireless, photonics, life sciences, e-business, tourism, and security and defense.” says Dale.

Ottawa was named one the Top 7 Intelligent Communities in the world for 2006, and ranked the 18th most livable city in the world. There are some 1,800 companies in the tech space in the Ottawa area, many of them have less than 10 employees, according to Dale. Bar camps, a proposed technology innovations hub, and a convergence of broad corporate interests foster a regional commitment to business building business, according to Dale.

The OCRI helps startups, tech transfers and VC-funded emerging tech companies rub shoulders with goliaths like Dell, Accenture and Corel. The OCRI offers members a series of seminars and an extended, 9-month mentorship with a local luminary.

Dell recently quadrupled its staff in Ottawa from 500 to 2,000. Research in Motion is in the process of doubling or tripling its presence. Canadian owned Mitel recently acquired internationally based Inter-tel. “It’s a proud story, says Dale. Not too often is it a Canadian company doing the buying.”

After the dot-bomb of 2001, some 30,000 of Ottawa’s 80,000 tech workers lost their jobs. In 2007, the losses have been wiped out. “But the market is different,” says Dale. “Instead of one or two companies hiring 100 people, there are 100 smaller companies hiring one or two people.” Dale also says that smaller interests tend to look for technical staff early in their development, and more sales staff once they are emerging.

The OCRI Top 10 Life Sciences Companies awards recognize early stage and emerging companies. “That leads to a road show in Boston, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco,’ says Dale. “Ottawa-area companies usually make up a third or half of the winners.”

The OCRI is focused on developing the capacity for global reach, and helping to develop what Dale calls mini-multinationals. “In the next decade in Canada, successful emerging techs are going to look and think globally,” he says, adding that trips to meet with peers in India have recently yielded results.

The OCRI also partners with Communitech in Waterloo and Markham’s Innovation Synergy Centre through the Regional Innovation Development Program, in order to drive business development in key regional clusters of Ontario.

WATERLOO

The Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, Ontario opened in May 2006. The centre is a not-for-profit corporation with a full time staff of four. Dr. Tom Corr, chief executive officer, is the former Director of Commercialization IT & Communications, at the University of Toronto and a 30-year corporate veteran of the IT sector.

The Centre’s funding is provided by the City of Waterloo, the region, the province, and the Government of Canada. The AC also has many private and corporate donors, according to Corr. Last year’s $1-million budget produced about $500,000 in venture capital investment. “But many of our tenants are already well capitalized,” says Corr. “Often they are in search of training, not funding.”

The focus on information technology is reflective of the high concentration of emerging techs in the area. The University of Guelph and Wilfred Laurier combine with the University of Waterloo to create some 5,000 graduates annually in computer science, engineering and business.

Besides being home to one of the largest concentrations of math and computer science educators in the world, Waterloo boasts a robust entrepreneurial culture and extensive business training opportunities. Battle-proven tech veterans and a significant population of engineering interests drive the creation of intellectual property in the region.

Waterloo’s Communitech alliance offers support, training programs and courses on things like sales and pricing. The tech industry in Waterloo is very community driven, according to Corr, and much of the areas development is driven by legacy players. Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion, recently invested $50 million to help fund a new research interest.

The application process for tenancy at the AC requires a competent business plan and proof of financial wherewithal. There are a host of training and development opportunities available through the centre and its partners. Accelerator tenants breathe the same, rarefied air of tech heavyweights like RIM, SlipStream and Sandvine Inc.

Corr says that, despite the plethora of local graduates, Waterloo region techs still struggle to fill their rosters. “The real dearth right now is with seasoned management,” says Corr. “There is not as much repeat entrepreneurship as [in] Silicon Valley.”

The Accelerator Centre is already at capacity six months ahead of schedule. We booked the last space on our one-year anniversary, says Corr. The centre is in the process of securing another building, directly across the street, to double its available space.

“We are raring to go and ready for more,” says Corr. “Anything we can do to help our clients bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization, we’re going to do.”