Innovation Prizes for Digby Area Firms

A time-delayed bait dispenser has won $100,000 in cash and in-kind services for designer and builder Vince Stuart of Meteghan Centre.

The dispenser was among winners in the provincial I-3 Technology StartUp Competition, an innovative competition to find and support high potential Nova Scotia knowledge based businesses.

Innovacorp, which runs the annual competition, announced the zone winners last week.

“We are excited about the start-up companies selected. We believe they are developing compelling and important new products and services,” said Clifford Gross, president and CEO of Innovacorp. “It’s gratifying to see the range and quality of entrepreneurial activity occurring throughout the province.”

First-place zone winners each receive a $100,000 combination of cash and in-kind services from firms in their zones to help further develop their start-ups. They also move on to the provincial round on Feb. 8, to compete for a $100,000 seed investment from Innovacorp.

Second-place zone winners get $40,000 combinations. In Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties, the second place winner was Nova Ergonomic Tool Technologies Inc. of Comeauville.

Zone winners were selected through two rounds of competition. In the second round, finalists submitted detailed business plans and gave oral pitches of their start-up businesses to the judges. Finalists were evaluated on business plan credibility, management experience, barriers to competitive entry, size of addressable market and the probability of obtaining a fully funded business plan.

Vince Stuart’s bait dispenser is called ‘ The Bait Savour’ and is installed in a trap, where it protects bait from degradation caused by water current, consumption by a non-target species and from preliminary consumption by the target species before the ideal trapping time.

Fishermen save significant time and money from reduced fuel, labour hours and bait. Quantifiable reductions in CO2 emissions also result from far fewer boat trips to check traps.

Eric Bourque of Nova Ergonomic Tool Technologies which won second place developed a unique tool for the construction trades, the Nova Gripper. The hand-held device serves as a temporary handle to safely and comfortably grip, lift and carry various building materials (e.g. drywall, plywood, steel/aluminum plates). The lightweight, easy-to-use tool fits in a tool belt and also has a quick-release feature that lets go of the materials instantly and painlessly.

Story by John Demings

The Digby County Courier

2 Feb 2012