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Hello Everyone – Seasons Greetings!
FUNDING NEWS!
As per the Alberta Recovery Plan, $280M has been allocated – $180M from TIER and $100M from the Federal Low Economy Leadership Fund for:
- ERA’S Shovel-Ready Challenge to assist industrial sites reduce emissions and create jobs – $150M – the EOI deadline is December 22nd – it’s not too late to apply!
- ERA’S Energy Savings for Business Program – $55M to help Alberta’s SME facilities benefit from industrial and commercial projects like heating and insulation upgrades, and
- $75 million for ERA’s Partnership Intake Program to support emissions reduction projects.
Cohort 2 for Alberta Innovates’ TIER Economy Recovery Program will be announced in 2021. This gives your business lead time to prepare your submission well ahead of the deadline. To Note: Eligible applicants may be comprised of technology developers, industry, industry associations, SME’s, R&D organizations, post-secondary institutions, municipalities, not-for-profit organizations, government research labs, and, individuals.
WD’s Business Scale-up and Productivity CFP – next intake will be January 15th to February 16th, 2021 – this is a good time to start preparing.
Check out the recently announced Alberta Innovates CASBE / NSERC Program.
Canada Summer Jobs Program will open into January with applications due into February.
Alberta’s Innovation Employment Grant will be open for applications in January.
Alberta’s ReLaunch Grant has been recently increased by $15,000 adding up to a total of $20,000.
TIER funding of $750M will be allocated in 2021 opening up much more opportunities for green innovation in Alberta, job growth and economic growth. With this program and funds from industry and other sectors, the total investment is estimated to be $1.9 billion.
As per the Federal Government’s Fall Economic Statement, $100B will be allocated over the next 3 years to facilitate economic recovery – ‘greener, more inclusive and more competitive’.
Canada’s Climate Change Plan and the Carbon Tax
The aim of this $15B Plan is to reduce carbon emissions by 32% by 2030 by increasing the carbon tax. David Yager’s recent post in Energy Now ‘How Politicians are Hiding the True Cost of Higher Energy Prices’ re the Clean Fuel Standard Tax is particularly scathing – bringing in a tax on top of what we pay for so far is a lot. He also provides insight into the great divides like Brexit and the deep divisions in the US.
Lastly, it’s important that your company understands the 1) Alberta and Federal Mega Programs, 2) Federal and Alberta innovation funding Programs, 3) Federal and Alberta Employment/Training Funding Programs, and, 4) the recently announced Infrastructure Bank’s $10B Growth Plan.
Call to discuss any one of these funding programs.
The Overviews!
The Overview of the 130! Federal and Alberta Innovation Funding Programs, and, the Overview of the 30! Employment & Training Programs are available as subscriptions. Innovation funding grant information can be found on the internet but why work so hard to do the research yourself? For those of you on a budget, subscription fees as well as consulting fees are negotiated.
The Reality of Preparing a Funding Submission For the First Time: Firstly, most companies need to learn about the innovation funding landscape to determine which funding programs fit as per their requirements. When it comes to submission preparation, it takes 3 to 4 weeks to prepare a funding submission along with all of the supporting documents. Why does it take so long? Simply because businesses are attending to running a business and are working overtime when it comes to preparing funding submissions.
Call for assistance as you may require for 1) learning about the innovation funding landscape, 2) preparing the grant submission, and, 3) preparing impactful and compelling positioning statements that make your submission stand out from other competing submissions, and, 4) third party critical reviews that are just like what a funder’s reviewer would do to ensure that 1) your company’s funding submission succinctly and efficiently provides all the information required by the funder, and, 2) is packaged as per the funder’s key requirements – thereby making your submission highly competitive.
IT’S NOT ENERGY EAST BUT IT IS IMPRESSIVE!
What a tremendous feat – Cenovus shipped an estimated 450,000 barrels of oil to the East Coast to the Irving Refinery – through the Panama Canal – that’s 12,000 km! From the West Coast to the East Coast it’s only 3000 km!
Super Stars!
Like me, you may have enjoyed hearing Doug Schweitzer, Alberta’s Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation talk about the Alberta Recovery Plan – it was excellent. Also, I loved how Seamus O’Regan Minister of Natural Resources spoke of the common experiences of Alberta and Labrador/Newfoundland. My experience – he’s on it and in touch with Minister Sonya Savage on a regular basis. Also, this week on Tuesday at Noon, The Society of Petroleum Engineers will deliver a Virtual Q&A with Minister Sonya Savage and Greg McLean, Shadow Minister for Natural Resources.
Alberta’s Clean Tech Summit – March 11, 2021
Check out ACTIA’s: www.abcleantechsummit.ca – Sign up to invest, pitch and/or sponsor. $100,000 will be raised for a local cleantech company.
Alberta’s Nobel Prize Winners!
The Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute (AVI) at the University of Alberta will receive $20 million in funding over four years. The funding will accelerate leading-edge research and commercialization of pharmaceutical and vaccine treatments and build on Alberta’s successes, such as the recent announcement of a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Dr. Michael Houghton, a researcher at the Li Ka Shing Institute. Also remembering another Alberta Noble Prize winner – ‘a rather humble native son of Alberta’, UofA’s Richard Taylor “I wasn’t stupid but I wasn’t working that hard.” He is gone now but he sounds like he was a real fun guy!
The Pandemic War
It’s the continuing onslaught of COVID 19 losses every day that leads to feeling stressed, distressed, upset, tears, grieving, anger along with feeling restricted and cooped up – and there can be financial stresses. We miss the connections with our families, friends, coworkers, clients, and, simply the need to be part of our communities. This is what war is like – isolation along with a tremendous amount of fear including fear for our lives.
It helps to identify these feelings. Identifying these feelings has helped to me understand that they are a part of this COVID-19 war. Talking about these feelings with trusted others helps too. We are all having many similar feelings. It seems like the process is to first identify and address our feelings and then we become resilient again.
When it comes to our communities, too many individuals and families are doing without and way too many are facing hunger, shelter and abuse issues. Thank goodness for our support systems and for that little extra miniscule donation that hundreds of thousands of us are making that adds up to help individuals and families at risk.
We don’t know when this pandemic war will end. The miracle of vaccines is just around the corner. We will soon be celebrating, and, when it’s safe, we will soon be together again most likely with an appreciation of others more than ever before – while also taking precautionary steps for a good long while.
Community Connections
To keep on top of what is happening in our community, I receive the following newsletters/bulletins – ACTIA, DEC, PTAC, CRIN, Platform Calgary, Calgary Economic Development, Calgary Chamber, ICTC, the Pembina Institute, Energy Now, BOE, Technology Alberta, Alberta Innovates, ERA Announcements, WD Announcements, Peter Koning’s Energy Shift bi-weekly news, Mark Kolke’s Facility Calgary publication, and, Perry Kinkaide’s KEI Report. Whew! There’s more but I can’t tell you all my secrets! Sign up, they are all excellent! Also, it’s a good idea to get on the funders’ mailing lists.
GOING GREEN!
Going green in our homes, communities, industries, businesses and governments may happen much sooner than we think – it comes down to each individual taking action. Even a tiny action can turn into many, many tiny actions all because human beings are hard wired to think more and do more – it becomes easy-peasy and feels good too!
By coincidence, in checking the correct spelling of ‘peasy’, what also popped up was https://easypeasies.ca “Taking zero waste to a new level. Our products are made in Canada, aren’t wrapped in plastic, and ship free of charge from New Brunswick in our composting or recyclable mailers.”
Quote of the Year – “Stay Calm”
President Elect Biden is someone who has the life experience to know what these words mean, and, when said, the meaning of these words is conveyed so that others can stay calm until they build the life experience to know what it’s really like to ‘stay calm’. And, if a person has the life experience of staying calm, it’s comforting to hear these words. These are powerful words to keep individuals, families and communities safe and focused on what they can do.
TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year
“For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are Time’s Person of the Year.” (Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal.) Zoom’s CEO Eric Yuan was named Businessperson of the Year. The video chat service spiked in popularity amid a health crisis that forced people to work and learn from home. In the category of Guardians of the Year, Time named activists Assa Traoré, Porche Bennett-Bey and racial-justice organizers; frontline health workers fighting the pandemic; and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
MANY, MANY THANKS TO MY CLIENTS IN 2020!
Total funding secured this year was the highest ever. Over the last 10 years, total funding secured is adding up and it’s gratifying. The economic multiplier effect from funding is what is most beneficial to Canadians – all due to the expertise and initiatives of the funders; the foresight of Provincial and Federal governments, and, that magic word ‘innovation’ spurring on new and established companies, organizations and not-for-profits with exciting technologies and solutions.
Howard Zinn – The Bomb: “In re-thinking our history…to look at the world from other points of view…as we come into the next century…not to be any group’s century, but a century to the human race.”
Lastly – in a matter of days, we will be having time for fun and relaxation!
Wishing You a Happy & Safe & Rejuvenating Holiday & A Strong and Healthy 2021!
Eileen Ashmore, MBA, CMC Management Consultant – Technology Funding Specialist
403 252 0799 eileenashmore@strategictimelines.com
HOW IS YOUR TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS BEING FUNDED?
Strategic Timelines works with your company to prepare top notch funding submissions with compelling positioning strategies to significantly increase your company’s opportunity for securing funding, financing and/or investment.
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Borrowing More and More – Federal Budget Brings New Programs and Pains: Margareta Dovgal – Resource Works