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In the green: Going carbon-neutral
	The first Rideau Canal Festival is scheduled for this August, incorporating the Rideau Canal Flotilla and Colonel By Day festivities. But veteran Ottawa festival organizer Michel Gauthier is poised to...... [ FULL STORY ]

Seed money: Angels in the Ottawa field - Scoring early-stage financing
	When DNA Genotek initially sought angel financing in 2004, the company was looking for capital to sell and market its all-in-one vial used to collect DNA samples from saliva.... [ FULL STORY ]

Seed money: Crawl, walk and then run
	Last year, the value of venture capital investment in Ottawa dropped to its lowest level in eight years as investors, fully invested in their portfolios, continued to wait for exits so they could...... [ FULL STORY ]

Seed money: Tugging hard on those bootstraps
	Building a business with little or no outside capital can be an inexpensive way of financing a new venture that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to pursue their business without having to answer to...... [ FULL STORY ]

Seed money: Loan fund filled gap for X-SCREAM
	When Noel Tarabocchia walked into a bank looking for a business loan, he was told he had potential, but lacked the business track record the financial institution was looking for in prospective...... [ FULL STORY ]

Success in the U.S.: The right product, the right time, the right place
	Sometimes, things just go right for a company, as was the case with Elliptic Semiconductor. Despite being a startup in the wake of the tech bubble burst with relatively little venture capital funding,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Success in the U.S.: Lean, mean and self-promotional
	With banks failing, the U.S. dollar sinking and protectionism on the rise, it's only a matter of time before Canadian manufacturers and exporters feel recessionary pressures from south of the border,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Success in the U.S.: Park your Canadian pride at the door
	It seems like it ought to be easy to sell into the United States. Canada and the U.S. share a border, a language, and also a major trading relationship. So what, then, are some of the challenges of...... [ FULL STORY ]

Success in the U.S.: Be prepared for bigger peaks, deeper valleys
	With the U.S. real estate meltdown, you might think that CKG International, a Kanata-based real estate consulting company that does about 90 per cent of business south of the border, would have...... [ FULL STORY ]

Hiring the higher-ups: When the founder steps aside
	When Gatineau's Zeligsoft appointed a new CEO last January, founder Francis Bordeleau moved onto a position with which he was more comfortable.... [ FULL STORY ]

Hiring the higher-ups: When to invest in marketing and communications experts
	It's a chicken-and-egg riddle: Should a start-up company hire a marketing and communications team early in the business cycle to drive sales? Or, should it wait until it has the sales to justify the...... [ FULL STORY ]

Hiring the higher-ups: Getting sold on a sales VP
	So you've got a sales team in place, and the revenues are rolling in slowly but surely. What's your next step, and what do you need to consider if you're creating a brand-new sales executive role? The...... [ FULL STORY ]

Hiring the higher-ups: Finding a new hand for the helm
	It's not often that you see a CEO taking a break from a busy, growing company, but when Fidus chief executive Michael Wakim decided it was time for a sabbatical, he found a reliable stand-in with his...... [ FULL STORY ]

Hiring the higher-ups: Global talent on your own doorstep
	Everyone's been talking about the talent crunch in Ottawa and elsewhere, but fast-growing optical networking company BTI Systems had no problems finding a new executive to oversee its global...... [ FULL STORY ]

Behind the deal: Time and tide didn't dampen this deal
	When wireless, satellite and defence solutions maker EMS Technologies Inc. said it was going to buy satellite communications company DSpace and merge it with its Ottawa-based SATCOM operations, it...... [ FULL STORY ]

Behind the deal: Always look on the bright side
	Things could have gone poorly for Ottawa's Enablence Technologies Inc. in 2007.... [ FULL STORY ]

Behind the deal: Another bridge crossed
	Canada's market for initial public offerings had its worst showing in 2007 in six years, according to an annual survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers released last week. Even with a strong fourth quarter,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Behind the deal: Orezone's 'miracle deal'
	One of the surprise deals of 2007, even for those involved, came from Ottawa-based mining company Orezone Resources last October when CEO Ron Little announced that it would be buying out its much...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Soft in the head
	Saeid Nourian won the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation's Student Entrepreneur of the Year award last spring for the one-man company he developed in 2000, Runiter.... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Joining the chain gang
	Having a franchised brand to back a new business can help an entrepreneur, but it certainly doesn't take the risk out of the startup. Since starting Comfort Keepers in June 2005, Shari Westman has...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Sink or swim
	Starting your own business can be scary. Leaving the comfort of a nine-to-five job with someone else's money on the line is never easy, especially with a whole family depending on you. ... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Banking on a toss of the dice
	Board games like chess and backgammon have been around since before the pharaohs and have been found in ancient sites from all four corners of the Earth. Even with the popularity of video games today,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Going against the big guys
	Sometimes timing is everything. The oversimplified mantra of investing is "buy low, sell high," but when a market looks like it's tanking, is it time to get in while others are desperate to sell, or...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Going with your gut
	A report by the Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research shows that more than 60 per cent of restaurants close or change ownership within their first three years of business. Restaurant...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? No credit card, no problem
	Many Canadians looking to avoid crowded shopping malls and treacherous road conditions this Christmas will opt to purchase gifts online.... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Property management made easy
	It has been said time and again that the most important thing for entrepreneurs to do is make sure they develop a product that their target market actually wants. One entrepreneur who has taken that...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Fresh thinking with the Fresh One
	How many hockey moms and dads have cringed at the thought of their son or daughter wearing the same mouthguard week after week with only a cursory rinse under the tap in between games?... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Keep it simple, stupid
	There has been a lot of buzz going around Ottawa about a little company with big potential.... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Counsellors with a cause
	Karin Galldin and Jamie Liew were on their way to becoming lawyers through the traditional route, taking summer jobs and articling in different law firms, as well as working for a senator for the...... [ FULL STORY ]

Why didn't I think of that? Fitness training on the go
	John Sokolowski has a lot of experience in fitness training. Now a personal trainer, he was recruited by the Canadian National Bobsleigh team in 2000, competed in world cups, world championships, and...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch: Temp workers not so temporary
	Temporary workers may not be as temporary as they seem. A recent survey of 100 senior Canadian executives conducted by administrative placement agency OfficeTeam revealed that 76 per cent of...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch Searching for intelligent life by satellite
	Many businesses in Ottawa have satellite offices set up in other parts of the world. Whether it is in Eastern Europe, India, China or Australia, satellite offices can help Canadian companies take...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch The ancient art of on-the-job learning
	Apprenticeship is one of the oldest forms of education and yet, young people in affluent societies like Canada often don't even consider it when looking at their career options. In the past few...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch: Mechanizing the workforce
	When Statistics Canada reported on the problem of fewer and fewer workers in the labour force, economists indicated that increased productivity through investment in technology would be the solution,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch: Merging with young blood
	How far will a company go to make sure that it has the professionals it needs to stay in business?... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch: Keeping older workers longer
	The era of the early retirement package is over and the era of enticing workers to remain past retirement is set to begin. With the rapid greying of the Canadian workforce, one of the fastest and...... [ FULL STORY ]

The labour crunch: Tapping into overseas markets
	Earlier this summer, Microsoft Corp. announced it would open a new office in Canada because of rules in the U.S. that make it difficult to hire foreign staff. Marc Seaman, a spokesman for Microsoft,...... [ FULL STORY ]

Labour crunch: Investing in employee education
	With a labour crunch expected over the next 10 to 20 years, one question being asked is what role do businesses play in ensuring they have an adequately trained workforce waiting in the wings as baby...... [ FULL STORY ]

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