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$6M Boost For Tech

The provincial government is investing $6 million into emerging tech research.

The announcement was made in Kelowna, at UBC Okanagan's engineering building, where a project between students and industry partner Helios Global Technologies is underway.

The partnership is researching energy-absorbing materials in helmets with the aim of reducing concussion severity from sports impacts.

Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson said the money will be used to support graduate students and post-doctoral fellows via the not-for-profit organization Mitacs.

The funding will give students the opportunity to do research on real-world projects in a range of sectors, including technology, health, business and engineering.

“This is a substantial enhancement of the Mitacs program. We’ve been at it for 16 years, and it’s proven to be effective,” said Wilkinson. “So, we’ve decided this is a great place to invest because it makes the most of our talent and opportunities, right here in B.C.”

If successful, the helmet research could result in development of a prototype helmet with the capacity to reduce the incidence of concussions.

UBCO student Jonathan Smirl will receive funding for his training as a post-doctoral fellow.

“The concussion epidemic that is out there, the numbers are about 144,000 sport-related concussions in Canada each year. So, if we can find some technologies and find some ways to mitigate even a thousand of those ... that would be awesome,” said Smirl.

Helios CEO Martin Cronin said the program has enabled the company "to access world-leading expertise in the academic community to speed our development path.”

During the past two years, UBCO has studied 142 athletes from the Okanagan Sun, Vernon Vipers and West Kelowna Warriors through the Mitacs Accelerate program.

“We have had 14 unfortunate concussions, but we have been able to track the data to see what is happening with them,” said Smirl.

Since 2004, the province has provided $29 million to Mitacs, and the organization has supported more than 2,800 research internships, trained more than 7,000 students, and supported more than 470 international research collaborations in B.C.

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Tech repair shop success

William Walczak, Hayley Moffatt and Jordan Moffatt are young entrepreneurs who started the company in 2009 with the goal of becoming the first national repair store in Canada based out of Kelowna.

Now called Repair Express (formerly Fix My Touch), Walczak is optimistic about the company's future as it has grown from a home startup to a thriving business with four storefronts in the Okanagan.

“Within a very short period of time we have managed to get really good growth and we started thinking why aren't we templating this, why aren’t we opening more stores, so that is what we did,” says Walczak.

“We opened up the store in Vernon a year ago and it went extremely well, within a month we were profitable and within three months we were really, really profitable. So, we starting looking at the next store.”

By the end of the 2015 summer they opened another location in West Kelowna, and just this month their fourth location is opening its doors in Penticton.

He says part of their success is their partners in each store, like Dallas Teale in Vernon.

“He is fantastic, he has managed to get some fantastic reviews. He is nominated for entrepreneur of the year in Vernon,” says Walczak, who explains that the partners own a portion of each location.

“We want to get more people who want to be operating partners who are passionate about technology and want to have a repair store.”

Walczak attributes their success to their passion for what they do – and their local partners.

“We want to fix a lot of devices not only because it saves a lot of money and it is good for the environment, but also we want to help people use their phones, we want to help people use their technology,” say Walczak.

“We have a fantastic local marketing team here (Hiilite) and that has been a catalyst to our success. We are in front of the right people, on the right channels, with the right message and then tracking and converting them into clients and friends.”

He jokes that he definitely didn't expect it to be the success it has become.

“No definitely not,” he laughs. “We were hoping it would go well, but not quite as well as it has been going.”

Walczak says they are hoping to double their locations in 2016 alone, with their interest set on locations in other parts of the Okanagan, Kamloops and Prince George.

“2015 was great and I think 2016 will be even better.”

For more information check out its website here.

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Kelowna's Immersive Media Acquired for $100 Million

Kelowna's Immersive Media has been acquired by Digital Domain Holdings.

Digital Domain Holdings Limited is the parent company of Visual Effects studio Digital Domain, the creative force behind some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including Iron Man 3, the Transformers trilogy, Maleficent, the X-Men franchise and Titanic.

With the acquisition valued at $100 million, this transaction is the largest deal to come out of the Okanagan since Club Penguin was acquired by Disney in 2007.

Founded in 1994, Immersive Media is a digital imaging company specializing in spherical immersive video. Immersive Media creates fully immersive video experiences for companies like Disney ABC, American Express, Converse, Turner Broadcasting and Mountain Dew.

In 2010, Immersive covered the Vancouver Olympic Games for NBC, most notably webcasting The Today Show live for two hours daily in full 360-degrees.

In 2011, Immersive Media partnered with Livestream to produce the worlds 1st live 360 stream of the Black Eyed Peas Concert from Central Park, New York City.

Last year Digital Domain Holdings and Immersive Media entered into a joint venture to create IM360.

Immersive Media was represented by BC's Whiteboard Law in the transaction.

Another Community Futures success story!

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Trying out a cool therapy

- Castanet Story | Story: 153609
 
A relatively new business in Kelowna is offering a chilly type of physical therapy.

Cryo Care provides a type of procedure called cryotherapy, where the body is subjected to extremely cold temperatures, prompting the body's emergency management, or 'flight or fight,' response.

Taylor Saukarookoff, the co-owner of Cryo Care, says when the human body encounters temperatures of - 165 C, it brings the blood to its core in an attempt to stave off freezing to death. 

When this blood is returned to the rest of the body, Saukarookoff says it brings with it a number of health benefits. They have treated people with rheumatoid arthritis, post surgery inflammation and post-athletic recovery.

The cold temperature is produced using nitrogen, making it a very dry cold. Because of this, Saukarookoff says the cold only impacts half of a millimetre into the skin, making it a pain free process.

Castanet reporter Nich Johansen went down to Cryo Care on Tuesday to see how this deep freeze therapy feels first hand.

 

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A gift from Harry Connick Jr.

By - Castanet Story

One very special balloon delivery made the day of a bunch of young Kelowna actors as the card attached was signed by Harry Connick Jr.

The group of young thespians, from Kindergarten to Grade 6, at Studio 9 School of Arts received the surprise gift from the actor, writer, producer and Grammy Award-winning musician after their performance of The Happy Elf – written by Connick Jr.

Studio 9 CEO Mike Guzzi says they have been working for awhile to get the rights for The Happy Elf.

“We loved the show. It was sort of akin to the Charlie Brown Christmas in that it is not the typical Rudolph and Jingle Bells and those sorts of songs – it's jazz,” explains Guzzi.

They got licensing in the summer and worked hard practising the show. One week before they were all ready to hit the stage, Guzzi got a surprising call.

“My office manager gets the call and tells me it is Harry Connick Jr.'s people and I was like “What?!”,” explains Guzzi with a laugh. “I said “Ya, right. Ya, right”, but she is like 'No really it is.'”

The woman on the phone told Guzzi Connick Jr. wanted to send something to the show.

Guzzi says he was still in shock that Connick Jr.'s camp called. He asked to have the package delivered to his personal home so he could surprise all the kids at the same time.

“My wife called and told me I had a problem as I wouldn't be able to deliver it in my vehicle,” explains Guzzi. “It was an 11-foot high balloon bouquet. It had Santa in it and Christmas stuff and a couple musical balloons, a lollipop-shaped balloon and a card from Harry Connick Jr.”

Guzzi says this is the first time in 14 years of their organization producing licensed shows the writer has contacted the school and said thanks.

“It is kind of amazing, no one has ever sent us anything from a show,” says Guzzi, adding he was surprised when the Harry Connick, Jr. Camp told them they actually know where all The Happy Elf shows are being produced.

As seen in the video above, Guzzi brought out the bouquet at the end of show and had the host read the attached card.

“It blew everybody away, actually,” says Guzzi. “The kids didn't believe it, they thought it was a joke. I had to say it was serious. It was kind of neat.”

Guzzi says this particular group of young actors did a spectacular job on the show and it was great to see their hard work recognized.

“It sort of verified what they do and how hard they work. It was neat,” says Guzzi. “We've had shows written from other people and never heard boo, so it was pretty amazing.”

Guzzi thinks Connick Jr. may have given this show special attention as one of his professional projects is to bring jazz music to kids.

“He is passionate about the power and the need for jazz and he wrote the show to do that I think,” says Guzzi.

“It is a good show, it moves along well and it talks about Christmas spirit and the good things about Christmas, but also has some amazing music in it.”

Guzzi says Studio 9 will be writing Harry Connick Jr. a thank you letter for the gift and for writing the show.

“The bouquet is still sitting at the front desk here. The kids still come up and look at it,” says Guzzi. “It is really, really neat.”

The local production of The Happy Elf sold out both the Saturday matinee and evening performances.

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ChangeUP Awards Top Social Innovations in the Valley

http://okanaganchangemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1-e1443818865983.pngKELOWNA, BC -- Okanagan Changemakers is pleased to announce the top social enterprises in the Okanagan Valley as voted by the audience at ChangeUP. ChangeUP, presented by Valley First, a division of First West Credit Union, is a pitch competition for organizations that are making a social or environmental impact through their services or products. The six organizations pitching ranged from nonprofits to charities and for-profits business.

First prize was awarded to Soil Mate, an app that connects consumers with local farmers and dining options across North America. Soil Mate founder and CEO Matt Gomez says he was driven to create the app because he’s scared of what he would feed his children. Not only is it difficult to find and buy local products, but the average age of our farmers is 55. Soil Mate aims to change this problem by making it easy for people to find local food and drink options while helping farmers increase their sales, encouraging a younger generation of farmers to enter the market. “It’s nice to be recognized,” says Gomez, upon winning the $2,000 cash prize and $5,000 in in-kind services from KPMG. “This allows us to keep going. We are small team and we’re not doing this for the money.”

Drew Geldart, Marketing Business Partner at Valley First, was quick to commend the participants and the event. “Tonight, ChangeUP shone a bright light on the incredible calibre of the Okanagan’s entrepreneurial social sector”, says Geldart. “Every one of the 400-strong crowd was filled with pride and inspiration as they witnessed our future community leaders demonstrate positive social change in action.”

Clubhouse Childcare won second place for its Clubhouse Farm, which provides education and child care on a farm designed for kids. Enactus took third place. The student-led venture empowers students to create positive community change through entrepreneurial programs that meet the needs of the Okangan. In total, the evening saw more than $15,000 in cash and in-kind services awarded.

Media Contact:

Daylin Mantyka
Okanagan Changemakers event co-ordinator
250.859.6711
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Contest Winner contact info:

Matt Gomez
Soil Mate founder and CEO
250.801.8197
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About ChangeUP
ChangeUP: Innovating for Social Change is the second audience-voting pitch competition brought to you by Okanagan Changemakers. On Thursday, December 3rd a select number of organizations will have the opportunity to pitch live at the Kelowna Community Theatre in hopes of winning cash and in-kind services. The evening will recognize the best social impact initiatives in the Okanagan Valley and participants will benefit from interacting with a diverse and engaged audience. This year, we are pleased to have entrepreneur Mickey McLeod as our keynote speaker. Mickey is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Salt Spring Coffee.

About Okanagan Changemakers
Okanagan Changemakers is a Kelowna-based organization that develops, fosters, and supports innovative and sustainable solutions to social problems. We are a community of for and non-profit businesses, government agencies, and the general public. We believe that the power of business can be leveraged to drive social change and aim to see all businesses successfully embed social purpose in their operations. At Okanagan Changemakers, our mission is to educate and inspire, provide opportunities for networking and collaboration, and take a leadership role in sparking change.

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