The Fourth Industrial Revolution – What does it mean to the Corridor?

The 8th Annual General Meeting of the business association was a success.  Thanks to members and other business community representatives for attending and for Irish Hills for a great breakfast.

Members attending heard about association successes in 2017, a work program for 2018 and voted to approve a levy of $115,000 to implement the work program (the levy has remained the same for 5 years).  Board member Dustin Therrien (owner, Cheshire Cat Pub) encouraged members to get and stay involved pointing out that the association responds to member input so … the more input the better.

Guest speaker Mike Tremblay from Invest Ottawa

Guest speaker Mike Tremblay from Invest Ottawa

A new feature at this year’s AGM was a keynote speaker – this year from Invest Ottawa.  The presentation recounted the evolution of business from pre-industrial (supported by pictures of the ByWard Market filled with horse traffic) to today’s “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.  Speaker Mike Tremblay described the types of changes which might both impact and benefit Corridor businesses.  He presented an outline of the recently released Invest Ottawa Strategic Plan – a plan to help ensure Ottawa benefits from change.  We will keep in touch with Mike and make sure the Corridor stays on Invest Ottawa’s radar.

Speaker Micheal Tremblay also described that Invest Ottawa provides many services to business – from advising local start-ups on first steps to helping large businesses access foreign markets.  He described how the new Bayview Yards home for Invest Ottawa is where any and all Ottawa businesses will find value and services.  Seminars on topics such as succession planning, tax planning for small business and employee management are examples.  The many seminars and services are presented on the Invest Ottawa Events https://www.investottawa.ca/events/.   Please contact the Corridor if you would like assistance with an introduction to Mike and Invest Ottawa.

The Board of Management meets monthly and members are welcome to attend.  The next business association events will be the annual “9 and Dine” in the summer and the AGM planned for early November 2018 (soon after the municipal elections).