SMU Entrepreneurship Centre partners with prominent alumna to expand free business coaching sessions

In response to COVID-19 and the challenges it poses to local businesses, the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre is expanding its consulting services to offer more free virtual one-on-one business coaching sessions. 

“Many local businesses are having to make tough decisions,” says Michael Sanderson, director, Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre. “We are here to connect local companies with free virtual one-on-one business coaching to help them find the best way forward for their business during this challenging time.” 

Shannon Byrne Susko BComm’89 BSc’92

For the past few weeks, the centre has offered free virtual strategy sessions to Atlantic Canadian entrepreneurs to help identify potential solutions to current challenges. Now through a partnership with prominent alumna and successful serial entrepreneur Shannon Byrne Susko BComm’89 BSc’92, the centre is expanding those services. 

“I have more than twenty years of experience building and leading high-growth technology companies in the financial services industry, and during that time, I have dealt with adversity and economic downturns,” says Susko, CEO and founder of Metronome United. “Now, I share that knowledge and experience with 60 Metronome coaches and their clients worldwide. We help CEOs and leadership teams overcome obstacles and grow. We know that businesses are facing significant challenges as a result of COVID-19, and we are here to help you.” 

Recognized in March 2020 as one Canada’s Top 25 Inspirational Women Leaders, Susko was also named as one Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2018 and was awarded Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2001. Susko has built and led high-growth tech companies in the financial services industry. In six years, she co-founded, managed, and sold two companies: Subserveo, Inc. and Paradata Systems Inc. 

For more information, visit www.smuec.ca and www.metronomeunited.com .

Commerce and engineering students shine at international competition in Montreal

(l-r) Clifford Isenor, Andrew Herold, Kaitlyn Anderson and Kevin Schwarzer

During February break, Clifford Isenor and Andrew Herold represented Sobey on a cross-faculty elite team that travelled to Montreal to take part in the ENGCOMM Case Competition, billed as "the cross-disciplinary case competition combining both engineering and commerce." The competition was hosted by the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University and aims to collaboratively find solutions to real-world challenges faced by modern industries.

Representing the engineering side of the equation were Kaitlyn Anderson and Kevin Schwarzer, a student who had worked with the David Sobey Centre on their recent retail robot initiative. Team coaches were Sobey's Case Competition Coordinator Breagh Matheson, MBA, and professor Luke MacDonald of the Division of Engineering.

Fourteen schools competed including the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, University of Vermont, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Western, York, Ryerson, McMaster, the Technological University in Dublin, Ireland, and the American University in Cairo.

Over four days, students completed and prepared case analyses on sponsor companies Global Medic, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and L3 Harris.

Overall: Saint Mary’s University was extremely competitive, with judges applauding their creativity and seamless flow of presentations. The team improved with every presentation, scoring higher with each consecutive day. After the 12-hour final case prep presentations, they were scored only three points behind the leader in their respective pool, making it a very close competition. The students refined their analysis and presentation skills and overall, had an incredible time.

During the opening dinner the team was seated with several executives of L3 Harris, providing our students with incredible networking opportunities.

The team would like to thank the following sponsors: Sobey School of Business, Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President Academic and Research, the BComm Advising Centre, the Dean of Science Office/Science Advising, Engineers NS and SMUSA.

New Nova Scotians cook a community meal to celebrate International Development Week

A celebration of newcomers,  diversity, and tradition through food will take place this Friday, February 7, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.  At the event, ten refugees from around the world who are now living in Halifax will prepare dishes from their home countries as part of a community meal.

‘Taste of the World’ aims to break down barriers and build understanding through something that is universally shared: food. For the cooks, it is an opportunity to showcase their traditions and cultures to a broader audience. For the public, it’s a chance to connect with newcomers and sample delicious dishes. The event is free and takes place at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library, 2285 Gottingen St. in Halifax.

“As an immigrant, I have firsthand experience of how difficult it can be to start a new life in a different country,” said Leena Roy Chowdhury, co-president of Enactus Saint Mary’s and this event’s co-organizer.  “We are working with newcomers to Canada, and helping to inspire them as entrepreneurs so that they can build a career using their incredible cooking skills. This event is the perfect occasion to celebrate diversity and entrepreneurship with food that will captivate your taste buds!”

 ‘Taste of the World’ is being held as part of International Development Week (IDW). IDW celebrates Canadian community and international development efforts by showcasing work being done across the country. 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of IDW, which will run from February 2nd-8th. As the signature event for the Atlantic, ‘Taste of the World’ will be live-streamed to a national audience.

This year’s theme for IDW is ‘Go for the Goals’, referencing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are 17 universal, aspirational, and interconnected goals introduced by the United Nations in 2015. The ‘Taste of the World’ event seeks to address goal no.2: Zero Hunger, no. 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, no. 10: Reduced Inequalities, and no.17: Partnerships for the Goals.

To learn more about the SDGs, click here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

Funding for this event is provided by the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation (ACIC), on behalf of Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The event is being hosted by the Global Shapers – Halifax Hub, Enactus Saint Mary’s, and Hope Blooms.

Big win for Saint Mary's at the Atlantic Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards

Aditi Joshi, founder of AJDesigns; and Saint Mary’s students Mubdu Alali, founder of Bloxo; and Nevell Provo, founder of Smooth Meal Prep

Earlier this month, four East Coast university students competed in the Atlantic Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards (GSEA), for a chance to win cash and prizes valued at nearly $100,000. The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) is the premier global competition for students who own and operate a business while attending college or university.

Among the Atlantic competition, Aditi Joshi, founder of AJDesigns; Mubdu Alali, founder of Bloxo; Ross Arsenault, Co-founder of Ashored Innovations; and Nevell Provo, founder of Smooth Meal Prep. Each entrepreneur pitched their business to a panel of industry experts and local entrepreneurs with hopes to gain access to major prizes such as $1,500 cash, flights, coaching services, retail space, and the chance to move on to the National GSEA Competition in Toronto.

Ross Arsenault, BComm’18, was named the local winner and will move on to compete against the world’s best student entrepreneurs at the Global Finals for a chance to win a $40,000 worth of cash and prizes, and the title of EO Global Student Entrepreneur. Arsenault, a Saint Mary’s University student of the Master’s in Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation program, is developing sustainability-enabled technologies to modernize trap fisheries. Annually, 640,000 tons of fishing gear is lost and becomes ocean waste, resulting in 140,000 deaths of protected species annually. Ashored is developing a ropeless fishing system to minimize the risk of whale/animal entanglement and trap loss, while allowing fishers to fish in zones closed to fixed-gear fishing.

"The local recognition from GSEA Atlantic means a great deal in terms of resources, and personally as a founder with a maritime mission. Starting/running a business while still being a student definitely isn't the easiest at times, but it's benefitted Ashored as a company in countless ways!” says Arsenault. He will travel to Toronto to compete on the national stage in January 2020.

GSEA is an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) program. EO was founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs. With over 10,000 members in 144 chapters in 48 countries throughout the world, they’ve enabled business owners to learn from each other to experience greater business success while forming strong professional and personal relationships. EO provides events, leadership development, a forum for online discussion, and educational opportunities with the goal of teaching, inspiring, and transforming entrepreneurs into active members of a global business community.

Celebrating the inaugural recipients of the Viola Desmond Bursary

Saint Mary’s University students Leah Matheson and Kendra Smith, the inaugural recipients of the Viola Desmond Bursary

Saint Mary's University and the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute joined together on Friday, November 8, to celebrate the legacy of Viola Desmond and support the next generation of female African-Nova Scotian business leaders.

Leah Matheson, a second-year commerce student, and Kendra Smith, who is in her final year in accounting, are the inaugural recipients of the Viola Desmond Bursary.

"I feel blessed with how many people came to this event to support us and honour the legacy of Viola Desmond," said Smith. "I am very grateful to be one of the first recipients."

The Viola Desmond Bursary was announced on November 8, the date of Viola's heroic anti-discrimination action in 1946. The bursary is fully-endowed and is awarded each year to full-time African-Nova Scotian students at Saint Mary's.

"I have had a lot of support from my family, and from Saint Mary's, that has helped me during my degree," said Matheson. "I am looking forward to more people having the opportunity that Kendra and I did through the Viola Desmond bursary, an opportunity for them to pursue what they love."

The award amount marks the year of Viola Desmond's anti-segregation action, 1946, with students receiving $1,946. While this award is not renewable, it may be awarded to the same student more than once.

While preference for the bursary is given to students in the Sobey School of Business, the bursary may also be awarded to students in programs featuring entrepreneurship. Preference will also be given to female students from Halifax County. Students must also have a financial need.

This award was established with the permission of the Desmond Family and through the generosity of The Honourable Wilfred P. Moore, Q.C., LL.D., and Ms. Jane Adams Ritcey.

"Viola Desmond has been very good to our city, our province and our country," said Senator Wilfred Moore. "My family is very pleased to assist Saint Mary's University in this most noble virtue—the transfer of knowledge. We do so in keeping with the bedrock tradition of Saint Mary's, offering a hand up."

MTEI grads win $75k in US business challenge

The Ashored founders: Aaron Stevenson, left, Ross Arsenault and Maxwell Poole. (Photo courtesy Peter Moreira, Entrevestor.com)

Saint Mary’s alumni Ross Arsenault BComm'17, MTEI'18 and Aaron Stevenson MTEI'19 along with partner Max Poole BComm'17 on their company, Ashored, have won $75k USD Platinum win at the MassChallenge in Boston.

The company was selected back in May as the sole Canadian company to enter the well-recognized accelerator program, one of 100 start-ups competing for funding.

"Headquartered in the United States with locations in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Rhode Island, Switzerland, and Texas, MassChallenge strengthens the global innovation ecosystem by accelerating high-potential startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world for zero-equity taken." - MassChallenge.org

The MassChallenge Boston program provides training, collaboration space, connections to experts and mentors and is zero cost. Cash prizes are for zero equity. This isn't Dragon's Den, this is money to drive business growth, free of obligations.

Ashored Innovations were one of 12 companies awarded on October 24. Over $1 million USD in zero-equity prizes were awarded, provided via partnerships MassChallenge has with Boeing and the International Space Station National Lab.

This competition plants another flag in the Boston startup ecosystem, which Sobey School's Venture Grade and MTEI have been making inroads into for the last several years.

Ashored adds the winnings to their growing funding pool, including a recent $30,000 investment from Sobey School's Venture Grade group.

New SMU space at Volta open for business

Saint Mary’s students, faculty and researchers now have access to a new office space at Volta in downtown Halifax.

Dubbed the Entrepreneurship Connector, the bright new space can accommodate up to 6 people and puts Saint Mary’s in the heart of the Halifax innovation district, providing access to resources and allowing faculty, researchers and programs to better reach and engage with the community and local businesses.

The space and the partnership “creates a direct pathway for students, faculty and staff from across all disciplines within the university to engage in entrepreneurship and help grow and support the start-up ecosystem,” says Michael Sanderson, Director of the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre.

Volta, now in its sixth year of operation, tripled in size last year to 60,000 square feet. Spanning across three floors of the Maritime Centre, the innovation hub is creating a place for entrepreneurs and innovators to work, learn and connect with each other.

Saint Mary’s is the first post-secondary institution to provide its students and faculty direct access to Volta’s community of innovators with a dedicated work space onsite.

Faculty and students can book the space via an online: https://www.smuec.ca/volta/

SMUEC helps Canada’s first airport honesty shop open in Halifax

In an effort to promote Nova Scotia’s locally grown products and the cultural values of honesty and trust in the region, Mabata – Glocal Eatery, supported by the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre’s program The Runway, launched Canada’s first airport honesty shop, located at the arrivals foyer of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Introduced by the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre in April of 2018, The Runway is an incubator that provides local businesses the opportunity to promote and grow their enterprises through product sales and new product testing activities at the airport. The Runway has since worked with 14 local businesses, providing business support and a rent-free space to set up their shop at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Each month, The Runway airport kiosk features a new local business, with past companies ranging from apparel brands to plant-based nutrition bars.

The new honesty food pop-up shop, launched on July 10th, is a world pioneering concept that entrusts customers to pick the food, snack and drink items they wish to purchase, punch in their order using a touch screen and pay via a self-service checkout that accepts credit/debit cards, cash and mobile payments, with no one serving or watching customers during their purchase experience.

Mabata’s new Honesty pop-up shop will operate during the summer months of 2019 as a 24/7 un-manned shop and offers a 24/7 remote support helpline to assist any customer that requires further help to make their purchase.

Click here to read more.

SMUEC's social enterprise training goes national

The Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre (SMUEC) is bringing its entrepreneurial enterprise across Canada, starting in Saskatchewan and the Yukon.

Last month SMUEC team members Mitch Harrison and Jason Turner traveled to Saskatoon to deliver the first installment of The Pipeline’s train-the-trainer program.

The Pipeline is SMUEC’s social enterprise development service that helps students and community groups conceive and launch sustainable businesses that address community challenges. The program uses the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for exposing global challenges, and uses social innovation as a stimulus for creating community solutions.

A total of 17 participants from Saskatchewan and Manitoba participated, representing organizations including the Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance, Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan, the National Aboriginal Council Corporations Association and numerous chapters from Community Futures Canada. 

Participants walked away with a toolkit of processes, methodologies and activities as well as a certification that will enable them to facilitate Pipeline training in their communities. 

The Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre will continue to work with each organization as they begin to facilitate Pipeline training and support the development of social enterprises in their region.  

The next Train-The-Trainer session is scheduled for early September, when the team will travell to Whitehorse to work with members of the Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation department at Yukon College. 

For more information , please contact  mitch.harrison@smu.ca. 

Local entrepreneurs explore new opportunities east with help from SMUEC

Two Halifax-based entrepreneurs are headed to China later this month with the hopes of growing their businesses by entering the Chinese market. Trevor Silver, CEO of tREv Clothing, and Tracy Brown, COO of ValuedOption Inc. will spend 15 days building new relationships with import and export partners and participating in lectures led by world-leaders in the technology industry.

Earlier this year, Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre (SMUEC) put out a call for local entrepreneurs looking to build business connections within China and to explore new import and export opportunities.

“In an ever-increasing ‘global marketplace’, China is front and centre as a developed country with huge market potential and cutting-edge technologies; as Nova Scotia-based business’ seek exporting potential and expansion opportunities, China has become a destination of choice for founders,” says Jason Turner, Senior Project Manager, the Spark Zone.

Over the years, Nova Scotia has emphasized the importance of building new relationships with China in order to advance businesses within the province.  Nova Scotia’s business dealings with China led to $719 million in exports in 2018, up from $114 million in 2011. This shows the immense opportunities available to businesses who import and export with China. It is important that Nova Scotia businesses continue to be innovative and gain access to new resources, helping them build connections with businesses in China in order and enter the Chinese market.

Read more.

MassChallenge Picks Ashored

Ashored co-founders and Saint Mary’s alumni Aaron Stevenson, Ross Arsenault and Maxwell Poole.

After fielding 3,000 applications, MassChallenge this month accepted 100 startups into its international accelerator for 2019, and it included only one Canadian company – Ashored Innovations of Dartmouth.

In an interview after the announcement, Ashored CEO Aaron Stevenson said he was thrilled to be accepted into the Boston-based program and spoke about the doors it will open for the company. But he was more eager to discuss another aspect of his company’s experience – the opportunity to join the global discussion on protecting marine environments.

Ashored is developing commercial fishing equipment that aims to avoid harm to sea life and the marine environment. Stevenson said the company is still “firmly in research and development mode”, but as it develops the product Stevenson and his five colleagues have been involved in events around the world discussing how to better protect our oceans.

“In so much of the commercial fishery, there’s a gap between where they are today and . . . and where the public would like to see the wild fishery,” said Stevenson. “The whole idea of sustainably caught wild fish . . . that’s where people want to go. It’s clear that the old ways of doing things are not going to be tolerated for much longer.”

Read more about Ashored Innovations, the MassChallenge and more at Entrevestor.com.