Ottawa continues to boast an entrepreneurial spirit, according to a report from OCRI's Entrepreneurship Centre. Each year the centre conducts a survey of clients that used their services one year previous. The report is based on the results of the annual survey conducted in the summer of 2005 of clients having used services in 2004.

Approximately 3,885 clients utilized the startup services of the Entrepreneurship Centre in 2004. Of that number, 63 per cent, or 2,448 clients, had started up a business or were in business one year later, with 26 per cent of clients having been in business for over two years.

The report also shows that the net result of these 2,448 new businesses was 7,833 new jobs. These findings are up 45 per cent from the same survey performed last year.

Businesses contributed annual sales of $541 million into the local economy, up by 90 per cent, or $257 million, from 2003.

"OCRI is committed to fostering a culture of innovation and an entrepreneurial vision throughout our local industries," said Entrepreneurship Center executive director Stephen Daze. "This report recognizes that entrepreneurship is the driving force for growth and change in our economy and demonstrates the pivotal role that the centre plays in fostering job creation, opportunities and prosperity in the community."

Other highlighted results of this report include: Clients reported more than $205 million in new investment in their businesses with 85 per cent of businesses having a component of self, friend and/or family financing; 48 per cent have bank loans and/or credit cards; and, 2 per cent report having a private investor such as angel or venture capital.

o The entire survey can be found at http://www.ocri.ca/ocrimodel/publications/2005Trends.pdf