Research. Innovation. Commercialization.
Local entrepreneurs can now tap into these hallmarks of successful business thanks to the RIC Centre.
A partnership of Ontario’s Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mississauga Board of Trade and the University of Toronto Mississauga, the facility was officially unveiled today at the Mississauga Convention Centre. The RIC Centre shares office space with MBOT, at 701-77 City Centre Dr.
Mayor Hazel McCallion, Peel Region chair Emil Kolb and Bob Delaney, MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville, were at the ceremony, along with a roomful of business leaders.
“Innovation and commercialization are key drivers to strengthen the economy,” said McCallion. “Businesses and communities that invest in innovation, and support commercialization, present the communities with the best quality of life.”
John Andrews, president of NeurAxon Inc., a clinical stage R&D drug company, stressed the importance of research.
“Innovation means knowledge, progress and hope; without innovation, there is only the past and never the future,” he said. “The RIC Centre is important because without the understanding required for commercialization, the benefits of innovative research will be hidden or lost from the people who need it most.”
Envisioned as an entry point for entrepreneurs into Ontario’s innovation network, RIC provides services to small firms, researchers and investors. The services include business plan assistance, help with legal, marketing and business development issues, market intelligence and networking and funding opportunities.
“By helping communities capitalize on local strengths and opportunities, regional innovation networks like this one help to attract the world-class talent and the scientific knowledge Ontario needs to compete in the 21st century,” said Delaney.
The RIC Centre was unveiled with the help of four local entrepreneurial “Ricks”: Rick Fine of RFM Design & Manufacturing; Rick Holden of Best Buy Insurance; Rick Spence, a columnist for the Financial Post; and Rick Drennan, editor of Mississauga Business Times.
For far too long, said Drennan, Canada has been “a low-tech nation without much ambition.”
“If it was in the ground, on the ground, or running along the ground, we would find it, mine it or trap it and send to other countries to be refined. They, in turn, would turn it into high-tech end products,” he said.
The emergence of NAFTA and globalism have forced Canada to compete on a more sophisticated level, said Drennan.
“The opening (of RIC) shows how far we’ve come. It will be a place where our best can achieve greatness and send their innovative products to market,” he said.
jchin@mississauga.net
