Northern Ontario Business

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Full steam ahead for waterfront proposal: despite concerns, negotiations underway to finalize deal with developers.(THE GREEN RE
The first concrete glimpse of what Thunder Bay's ambitious waterfront plan could develop into was on display this fall with the opening of a skateboard and BMX plaza to hundreds of outdoor enthusias . . .

Ottawa pledges training support for solar industry.(IN BRIEF)
The federal government wants to work with the solar industry to develop its future workforce. Ottawa is collaborating with the Electricity Sector Council to develop new occupational standards for . . .

Building Thunder Bay's bio-economy.(IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Thunder Bay is building its own bio-economic base with a research centre at Lakehead University. A Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy, known as CRIBE, was the recommendation of . . .

Making the case for flax: an old crop has renewed potential.(GREEN REPORT)
Can the Algoma district, near Sault Ste. Marie, be a future commercial hub for flaxseed production? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ross McLeod, a Sault-based crop specialist with Science Enterprise Algo . . .

North Bay lights the way: municipality achieving "big deals" by thinking green.(GREEN REPORT)
Mayor Vic Fedeli cringes when someone chastises the City of North Bay for not showing vigorous support to an Earth Day lights-out campaign. He views those measures as largely "symbolic" that only . . .

Bio-diesel maker ready to pump up the volume: SITTM Technologies goes from backyard to mainstream.(GREEN REPORT)
As Luc Duchesne edges closer to bringing his mini bio-diesel refinery machine to the fuel-consuming masses, the normally talkative entrepreneur is becoming less expansive than usual. [ILLUSTRATION . . .

Energy efficiency becoming big biz for Sudbury: cheaper technology, rising energy prices driving public interest.(GREEN REPORT)
The winter sunlight reflects off the large square panel newly installed in the side of the house as homeowner Kyle Gascoigne inspects the handiwork. The tall black panel is the first of its kind t . . .

Entrepreneurial words of wisdom: Don Rastall, Robert Lipic honoured by their peers.(SPECIAL REPORT SUDBURY)
It was a strong head for business and perhaps his silver tongue which pulled Don Rastall down from the telephone poles of the North to become the leader in supplying the region with fasteners. Hav . . .

Tech C.A.B.S.: adding impact to your presentations.(CORPORATE PROFILE)
From a vantage point at the back of the room, Nathan Nicholson oversees the speaker's presentation taking place on the six by eight-foot draped screen at the front of the conference room. He is watc . . .

Laurentian unwraps $19-million School of Education.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
Just in time for Christmas, Laurentian University has officially unveiled its new $19-million "green" School of Education. The three-storey, 6,690-square-metre building will house students, facult . . .

Province gives half a million to Sudbury-area businesses.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
Amidst the blustery winter cold sat a spot of warmth for new and old businesses alike in the Sudbury area, as the province spread $507,735 across the region. As part of the Ministry of Northern De . . .

Wallbridge, Lonmin pool $1.5 mil for Sudbury exploration project.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited and joint venture partner Lonmin Plc have announced combined funding of $1.5 million for 2009 exploration program on its Sudbury Camp Joint Venture properties. Wi . . .

College Boreal, 5th Wheel Training hail successful partnership.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
Less than a year after signing a partnership agreement, College Boreal and 5th Wheel Training Institute are praising their success in jointly offering education programs in transportation and heavy . . .

Sudbury-based junior finding gold results near Kenora.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
Houston Lake Mining Inc., a Sudbury-based junior exploration firm targeting gold, PGE and rare metal deposits across Ontario, has turned up gold at its West Cedartree Gold Project, southeast of Keno . . .

Laurentian University appoints new president.(SUDBURY BRIEFS)
The unanimous recommendation of Laurentian University's presidential search committee to name Dominic Giroux as the school's new president has been approved by its board of governors. Giroux is cu . . .

Chomping away at the bit: passion for horses leads to innovative Sudbury-based product.(SUDBURY)
Whether Zoe Brooks is speaking as a designer or a renowned medical lab quality control expert, the Sudbury entrepreneur says business is all about the basics. "It's the same in either field, reall . . .

Slumping economy douses red hot housing market: sales are down but prices continue to rise in the Sudbury region.(SUDBURY)
The limping economy may be breathing some cold air onto the red-hot Sudbury housing market, but high-end activity continues to elicit cautious optimism from the city's real estate players. Althoug . . .

Sudbury to remain a port in the storm: Laurentian professor predicts recession to lift within a year.(SUDBURY)
One of the best tools Sudbury businesses can use to ride out the economic downturn is simple optimism, according to Debbi Nicholson, president and CEO of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. "If we al . . .

Mining Sudbury's software expertise: Century Systems draws on local talent.(SUDBURY)(Company overview)
As the head of Century Systems Technologies Inc., an internationally successful mining software firm founded in Sudbury, Ray Auger embodies the trend of leaving to seek greener pastures only to disc . . .

Celebrating a century of furs: three generations of furriers servicing the North.(Seeds OF Success)
An unmistakeable glint shines in Marc Lafrance's eye as he tells how his grandfather, Adelard, would make the arduous trek up the Pagwa River during the First World War to purchase raw furs in Fort . . .

Improving manufacturers the SMART way: province, CME delivering up to $50,000 to productivity projects.(SUDBURY)
After more than 20 years in business, Merdick McFarlane is looking to expand his truss-manufacturing business, and he acknowledges he needs financial help to do it. As an attendee at a Sudbury ses . . .

Green-powered growth at Cambrian: new environmental program, certificate in the works.(SUDBURY)
When the physical strain of his job became too much to bear after more than two decades in the construction industry, Richard Miller saw the writing on the drywall. After setting aside a business . . .

Sudbury supply and service brainstorm for crisis: SAMSSA members pool ideas for weathering the worst.(SUDBURY)
Sudbury's supply and service industry has the tools it needs to survive and even thrive in today's troubled economic times; it just needs to be willing to be creative and adventurous, a Ministry of . . .

Cementation Canada training efforts lauded by College Boreal.(IN BRIEF)
The North Bay-based Cementation Canada Inc. added yet another award to its collection after being recognized for its dedication to the successful training of College Boreal students. Hosted by the . . .

Figuratively speaking.(NEWS)(competitive economies)(Brief article)
Percentage of inbound phone leads that are lost by most marketing companies according to Second Approach services: 60 - 80 Percentage of small and medium business that would pay for better on-line . . .

International accolades for Living With Lakes.(NEWS)
Laurentian University's Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, the Vale Inco Living With Lakes Centre has walked away with third place at the North American Holicim Awards, held in Montreal this fall. . . .

Obama, America and the future.(PRESIDENT'S NOTE)
I am 60-years old. I was 15-years old when they shot John F. Kennedy on November 22nd 1963 exactly 45 years ago today as I writs. I was 20 on April 14th 1968 when they shot Martin Luther King in Mem . . .

A pipeline that has panic attacks.(ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING)
The financial system is like a pipeline. It delivers money instead of oil. The big difference is that when an oil pipeline springs a leak everyone tries to get someone else to patch it. When the fin . . .

Thunder Bay port does some heavy lifting: authority sets sights on more oil sands project cargoes.(THUNDER BAY)
Thunder Bay Port Authority's pursuit of Albertabound project cargoes went over in a big way last summer. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The M/V Daniella, a heavy-left jumbo vessel, nosed up to Keefer Te . . .

Thunder Bay Fine Papers in receivership.(IN BRIEF)
November was a black month again for forestry in Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay Fine Papers, one of the city's feel-good stories in 2008, entered into receivership in late October. Court-appointed rec . . .

Ontario realty corporation is certifiably green.(IN BRIEF)
An Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) building in Thunder Bay is the recipient of the 2008 Earth Award given by the Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA). The BOMA Canada Earth Award hon . . .

Thunder Bay business awards deadline fast approaching.(IN BRIEF)
Nominations are open for the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. The 15th annual galas takes place April 18 at the Valhalla Inn. The awards are open to any person or business who is a . . .

New start for tissue bank: advanced tissue method will elevate Regen Med's status.(THUNDER BAY)
A fledgling Thunder Bay tissue bank is hoping for a fresh start with a leading edge advanced processing technique. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Lake Superior Centre for Regenerative Medicine is on . . .

Woman on a mission: shop owner-activist determined to rebuild shopping district.(Seeds OF Success)
WDiane Petryna, owner of Take A Hike, considers herself a community activist who just happens to run a business. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The atmosphere inside her out doors sporting goods store i . . .

Straight talk for entrepreneurs.(JUST DO THIS)
Lisa LaMarquand professes that she's built her life differently that most. She owned a business before she was 30, turned a run down mansion into an exclusive country inn by bringing in over a milli . . .

T Bay aviation IT firm lands in U.S.: iFIDS aims high in U.S. market.(THUNDER BAY)
A Thunder Bay aviation IT company has landed a contract to provide an Internet-based flight information display system for a new airport terminal at the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Regional Airport A . . .

Making a holistic approach to development: market meltdown? Steve Demmings isn't worried.(THUNDER BAY)
While international global markets crumble, Thunder Bay's economic development chief isn't the slightest bit nervous about the city's future prospects. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The CEO of the Thun . . .

Growing green collar jobs: Sudbury event focuses on developing green know-how.(NEWS)(Conference notes)
The real future of construction across all of North America, lies in the sustainable building sector, according to international "green" building guru David Johnston. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Havi . . .

Containing infection through GIS; pilot program planned for Sault hospital.(NEWS)(Geographic Information Systems)
Controlling outbreaks of dangerous infections in hospitals means going beyond regular handwashing, cleaning and using antibiotics, especially if someone breaks a quarantine or fails to follow infect . . .

Commodities market: strong year marred by fourth-quarter flop.(5 NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR)
Those seeking relief from the plunging commodity prices which have dominated headlines in recent weeks are likely to see a change in the second half of 2009 or early 2010, according to Dina Cover, a . . .

Manufacturing activity: job cuts hitting the manufacturing sector as recession looms.(5 NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR)
What started out as a time of plenty for Northern Ontario's manufacturing sector has all too rapidly turned into a bittersweet year as the waves of the global economic crises begin to washing over t . . .

Real estate in the North: records continue to be broken.(5 NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR)
Increasingly leaner times in Northern Ontario's key resource industries have barely slowed the record growth seen in the region's real estate market, which continued to enjoy tremendous success thro . . .

Employment rates: indicator holds steady in the North.(5 NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR)
Northern Ontario's employment rate has held relatively steady over the last five years with gains in the northwest. According to figures from Statistics Canada, northwestern Ontario has seen a 1.2 . . .

Canadian currency: Canadian dollar softening as a global market regains stability.(5 NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR)
The Canadian dollar has rode a roller coaster this past year with commodities driving down the value in the last quarter of 2008. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oil and gas, sho . . .

Bacteria-powered bioleaching considered for Cobalt: BacTech looking at $20 million pilot plant.(MINING)
The arsenic-laden tailings scattered throughout the Cobalt region may be an environmental quandary, but it might translate into a $20 million facility for one Toronto-based company. [ILLUSTRATION . . .

Plunging nickel prices (daily) cause lossmaking.(MINING)
Plunging nickel prices (daily) cause lossmaking Source: LME, Brook Hunt, November 2008 [GRAPHIC OMITTED] . . .

Thunder Bay hosts the first annual prospect north mining conference.(MINING)(Conference news)
A mining conference took place at the Travelodge Hotel Airlane on Thursday and Friday, October 23 and 24, an initiative of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce (NOACC) and the Mi . . .

Xstrata shutters Sudbury's Craig, Thayer-Lindsley mines: nearly 250 staff encouraged to take early retirement.(MINING)
Weakening mineral prices are changing the face of Xstrata Nickel's Sudbury operations as the company moves to shut down the Craig and Thayer-Lindsley mines ahead of schedule. While Craig was initi . . .

Creating a ceiling for future nickel prices: China's solution to high-priced nickel.(MINING)
It is unlikely the markets will ever see $20-per pound nickel again now that China can produce nickel pig iron at single digit costs, says Jim Lennon, executive director in commodities research with . . .

Chilean firm seeking Sudbury-area suppliers: more than $500 million in procurement on the table.(MINING)
Awarm Chilean wind blew through Northern Ontario as senior officials from Minera Esperanza visited Greater Sudbury and North Bay to source the region's expertise and supplies in mining. [ILLUSTRAT . . .