Strategic Initiatives
Our current priority is to support the development and marketing of a technology incubation ecosystem in Campbell River. We meet weekly with Rose Klukas and her excellent team within the Economic Development Office to review, prioritize, fund and market activities which will be beneficial to businesses in Campbell River and that will also attract talent and investment from outside the area. Here are several current initiatives that we’re particularly excited about.
The NexStream Technology Challenges
The NexStream Tech Challenges are problem solving opportunities aimed at strengthening Campbell River’s economy. The challenges are designed to motivate individuals and businesses to invent in areas that are immediately relevant to industry challenges of the BC Coastal region and to accelerate and broaden interest in Campbell River as a technology destination. Forty individuals and companies are participating in our first round and we have already achieved several important goals through this initiative - we anticipate that the solutions being developed by our challengers will result in the subsequent establishment of new business in our region!
Our team provided over $200,000 CDN in cash prizes and services towards the first round of challenges. We have developed the web presence and administrative infrastructure for the program and, with the support of Rose and the City of Campbell River, are offering important learning opportunities that are intended to help challengers succeed in meeting the demands of the competition. Our goal was to make the challenges accessible to a broad range of individuals, and we’re excited to report participation from university students through well-established businesses. You can see the winners of our first generation of prizes here: https://nexstream.is/finale-2020
We are providing ongoing mentorship to participants and have tapped our network to bring in expert panelists who will help adjudicate the challenges. For more information and to follow progress of the NexStream 2.0 Challenges, please visit NexStream.is
TECHatchery
Bringing together a broad range of creative individuals and businesses can lead to rich discussions about the challenges, capabilities and opportunities that exist within community. Add financial resources; collaborative work spaces; access to subject experts as well as learning opportunities, and creative solutions will follow.
Our team has been collaborating extensively with the City of Campbell River to help articulate the needs, values and tactical steps required to build a robust technology incubation ecosystem. The newly launched web presence for this initiative can be found here: TECHatchery.ca.
The Modern Entrepreneur Series
Members of CRAAG have been supporting the Modern Entrepreneur Series since its inception. We have helped bring world-class experts from our network of friends and colleagues to Campbell River to share their experiences and knowledge, and to learn with our community here.
For a sample of past presentations and workshops, see last year’s Modern Entrepreneur Series Program with the City of Campbell River.
Repair Café
We’re excited about the way things work and have been taking apart and putting things back together for decades. One of us, David Baar, has become an expert at diagnosing and returning broken items back into service. His philosophy of ‘Don't toss it, fix it!’ is inspiring and important, as it addresses the two most important ‘Rs’ - Reduce and Reuse and brings in a very important additional R, Repair!
Pop into one of the Repair Café events in Campbell River, and you will find David and others endeavouring to keep electronics, appliances and power tools from filling up our landfills and contaminating our environment.
Hackathon
Last year, members of CRAAG were involved in sponsoring the first ever youth Hackathon in Campbell River. The event was a great example of what bringing together talented young people with seasoned entrepreneurs can do for community. Participants left feeling empowered to identify and articulate a need and to develop a plan and prototype from scratch. These youth will be the entrepreneurs of our future, hopefully in Campbell River and around the world.
We look forward to helping host another Hackathon in 2020 with the City of Campbell River!