Mobile Edition
Print
Get the Mag
Weekly UpdatesGlass, cedar and stone make up the shining exterior of the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT)'s new Innovation and Commercialization Park, but it's Northern Ontario know-how that will soon fill its airy interior.
"It's very important that anything happening in this incubation facility is reflective of what's going on in the community," says Norm Lavalle, chief operating officer of NORCAT, of the Sudbury facility.
"So obviously mining is going to be a strong part of that, but we're looking to include all manner of industries that impact the North."
Though still under construction under the oversight of local firm A3 Construction, the 60,000-square-foot, $10.6-million building is now completely enclosed.
In the coming weeks, exterior paving and curbing will replace the crushed rock currently lining the roads leading into the facility.
Stepping inside reveals a hive of activity as all manner of Sudbury sub-trades strive to wrap up the final stages of the building in anticipation for the first tenants to move in by Dec. 31, 2008.
While much of the second floor's drywall and painting has already been completed, the expansive locale's main floor still requires some of this work.
Walking into the incubator shop area reveals not only echoing footsteps but also stacks of ceiling tiles sitting nearly in the centre of the floor, where dividing walls will soon be built. Four companies have already agreed to become tenants in this area, including Electric Vehicle Controllers Ltd., which has done a great deal of work with NORCAT for developing its space technology.
Officials are still actively pursuing a particular high-profile anchor tenant whose identity is veiled in secrecy. Still, Lavallee insists it will be a "big-name, highly recognizable company."
Update in this shop space has been swift. Of the 15,000 square feet of space allotted for this purpose, just 3,600 square feet remains unspoken for.
The warehouse-sized room is ringed with a series of overhead doors, which are accessible from a road circling the building and which could allow for a tractor-trailer if need be.
Though a handful of companies will initially occupy this space, that number will multiply greatly over time as tenants are expected to stay only as long as they are innovating. Once they've moved past that particular phase, they'll move on and other interested firms will move into their space.
That could mean a given tenant might stay anywhere from a few months to three years, Lavallee says.
As this transition occurs and successful firms make way for others, the shop floor space can be modified to suit the new companies' needs by tearing down and rebuilding drywall and replacing floor studs. This makes for a flexible environment which can accommodate a variety of equipment research.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
While heavy equipment is often one of the more visible symbols of progress in the North, some areas of the facility's second floor will also allow for a great deal of space for what Lavallee refers to as "soft" research.
This pursuit of creative ideas through software development, engineering or other conceptual design work will take place upstairs, in a room to be filled with a number of cubicles. Armed with computers as well as Internet access and phone lines, these individual spaces will be available for roughly $200 per month.
This will provide tenants with the same office-style amenities as those taking up on the shop floor, including photocopy and fax services, access to meeting rooms, as well as voicemail.
Companies will also be able to establish their own server in a separate server room, and can also have access to the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO), which offers high-speed bandwidth to the province's colleges and universities. As certain projects at NORCAT's prior location at Cambrian were dependent on this kind of access, its inclusion in the new facility was a must, says Lavallee.
This support extends to other areas of the second floor, which will house offices for various services connected to aiding research efforts. This includes the liked of the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRPA) and N.J. Robbins Consultants, a research tax credit specialist.
As an example of the kinds of use these "soft" research areas may see, an engineering from looking to have a staff member develop an innovative product without fear of interruption could snap up a spot for a few months.
By NICK STEWART
Northern Ontario Business
www.norcat.org
FEED