The City of Orillia’s Fuel Innovation team is excited to meet the community as it hosts the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce Business After 5 event on March 20, 2024, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Lakehead University (500 University Ave.).
This event will serve as an avenue for the public and members of Orillia’s business and entrepreneurship community to meet the team behind the new innovation collective, Fuel Innovation, and learn about its services. Admission is free, but registration is required at orillia.ca/innovation.
“The City of Orillia is excited to announce the official launch of Fuel Innovation. Through this new innovation collective our aim is to support local businesses in identifying and developing new areas of growth,” said Mayor Don McIsaac. “Please join us and our partners on March 20 to meet the team and learn more about this exciting initiative.”
Fuel Innovation is launching several services to the community, such as grant writing, various informational workshops, advisory services, and corporate innovation programming. Services are geared towards helping aspiring entrepreneurs launch their ideas in the market and supporting existing businesses to hire local talent and invest in research and development.
“For the past six months we’ve been meeting with interested parties, understanding the needs of our community, and testing our service offerings. We’re excited to begin offering our services and seeing the impact we can create through our Fuel Innovation team,” said Michael Ladouceur, Director of Business Development, Tourism and Modernization.
Previously known as the Innovation Collective, Fuel Innovation was approved for a three-year pilot project in February 2023. Fuel Innovation is managed by the City’s Business Development, Tourism and Modernization Division, and partners with Georgian College, Orillia Area CDC, Lakehead University, and the County of Simcoe. For more information, please visit orillia.ca/innovation.