The Office of Industry and Community Engagement (ICE) and the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre Innovation and Incubation Services partnered to organize a Business Innovation Funding workshop at the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre at Acadia University on June 19, 2014.

The event was a unique opportunity to bring major funding players together in one place to discover opportunities to grow a business while accessing resources on the Acadia University campus to help accelerate innovation. Funding resources ranged from human resources, student funding, business development, research and development, marketing, commercialization, and venture capital.

“Another highlight was a special lunch made of products from companies that we have worked with,” says Melissa Quinn, manager of the Acadia Centre for Rural Innovation in the Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE). “A couple of companies that we’ve worked with and used some of these funding programs spoke at lunchtime as well.

“Lunch itself featured companies that we’ve had the privilege to work with in a multitude of capacities on campus: Spicy Cravings Vegetable Burgers, most recently developed through a Tier 1 voucher with Acadia University, accompanied by Farm Girl Preserves’ chipotle beet relish, another voucher recipient; gluten-free Quiche Lorraine from Pie R Squared, a Tier 2 voucher recipient and ACOA CAST recipient; Meander River Farms; Hutchinson’s Maple; Valley Flax; Hillcreek Farms; Ranchar Acres; and Country Magic Bloo Juice are all products and organizations that we’ve been involved with in the past in their product and business development needs.”

The goal of the day-long session was to help companies gain the confidence to navigate funding pathways and become more innovative. “We also hope to provide a portal for businesses and start-ups to utilize the resources on campus to assist in identifying these opportunities and work collaboratively in the future,” Quinn says.