Invest Ottawa Opens Up With $5.5 Million Strategy To Support Local ICT Sector

BY: 

Dave Forde
February 21, 2012

Earlier this morning, Ottawa’s Mayor Jim Watson joined Co-Chair Jeff Westeinde and local entrepreneurs to officially open Invest Ottawa, the flagship of the City’s $5.5-million annual economic development strategy.  Invest Ottawa, which replaces the Ottawa Centre for Regional Innovation (OCRI), will foster start-up enterprises, attract new investment, and help existing businesses located in Ottawa expand beyond our borders.

“One of my priorities in this mandate was to establish Invest Ottawa to help attract more investment and foster greater economic growth in our nation’s capital,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “Recent headlines surrounding public service job losses underscore the need to diversify our local economy, and Invest Ottawa is going to help us do just that. Invest Ottawa is a clear commitment to inspire more entrepreneurs to build our prosperity to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

“I feel like Ottawa has a renewed interest in growing exciting businesses again,” said Bruce Lazenby, Invest Ottawa’s President and CEO. “We are now providing incubation services for startups, rapidly forming effective collaborations between the city’s economic stakeholders to increase entrepreneurial activity, and hiring sector-specific business development executives tasked with measurable growth goals.”

 

According to Statistics Canada jobs report stated the region added more than 8,300 jobs in January and more than 20,000 jobs over the past year. This pushed the Ottawa and area’s jobless rate down to 5.9 per cent, well below the national figure of 7.6 per cent.

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Dave Forde


Dave “The Connector” Forde has been involved in the marketing, public relations and technology industry across Canada for over 20 years in various sales and marketing roles, he launched The Connected One network of business sites which connects buyers to the right sellers. Profectio and PR In Canada covers news about the marketing and public relations industry each day helping professionals advance their career and businesses. He also serves as an advisor to a number of businesses across the country. Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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