OBJ columnist Bruce Firestone asked local residents what matters most to them – and received some surprising answers

In the last of a three-part series, OBJ columnist Bruce Firestone looks at ways the City of Ottawa can redesign itself to prepare for the economy of the future

In part two of a three-part series, OBJ columnist Bruce Firestone looks at what Vienna and Rotterdam are doing to win the increasingly competitive race for talent

The late urban planning writer Jane Jacobs, the renowned author of the Death and Life of Great American Cities, had a theory: the closer government is to people, the more important it is

Like a big, juicy cheeseburger and fries, food and real estate go hand in hand.

The city’s new head of planning and economic development knows that a one-size-fits-all approach to planning and infrastructure makes no sense.

I met with Steve Willis in his office at City Hall after everyone else’s workday seemed to be over except his. 

I think it’s fair to say that Ottawa is not exactly renowned for having a plethora of great companies.

Some critics say the decision to build a west-end arena is behind the Sens’ failure to sell out playoff games. As Bruce Firestone argues, the Senators would be playing in Anaheim if the then-…

Having lived in both countries, I know Canada and Australia share many traits in common – strong historical ties to Great Britain, language, culture, high standards of living and vibrant

In 1996, Paul Vallée left Minneapolis and a lucrative contract consulting position billable at up to $175 an hour to come to Ottawa and live the impoverished life of an entrepreneur.

As many of you probably know, the City of Ottawa recently changed its bylaws to permit construction of coach houses on many existing residential lots.

Ottawa city planner Alain Miguelez brings a world of experience to a job that comes with more than its fair share of challenges.

How many bad decisions can one region’s planners make? Lots, if you are talking about the city of Ottawa.

Some things appear to be impossible, others just highly implausible. But making baseball work in Ottawa?

With the National Capital Commission recently choosing the bid backed by Senators owner Eugene Melnyk as its preferred plan for LeBreton Flats, here is a key question: how can the Sens pay for a ne

As an immigrant to Canada from Egypt nearly three decades ago, Nasr Salib needed to find work in his chosen field of physiotherapy to support his wife and two children.

I first met Anne Saunders when she came to the Ottawa Senators’ offices – then on Moodie Drive in Bells Corners – on May 20, 1991 – wearing a clown outfit.

You don’t often see the words developer and environmentalist in the same sentence. But when it comes to Jonathan Westeinde, there is no dichotomy.

We all know Mark Sutcliffe as a ubiquitous presence in Ottawa’s media scene.

Why would two lawyers leave secure jobs with the federal government to launch a startup that was, at least initially, more crusade than enterprise?

Henry Ford obviously wasn’t present when I recently visited modular homebuilder Guildcrest’s 120,000-square-foot plant in Morewood, about 50 km southeast of Ottawa, but his spirit definitely was.

With the city facing a shortage of bright young talent, the term “real estate entrepreneur” might soon go the way of the dodo bird in Ottawa.

What’s in a name? Well, if you are Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips and the other four founding partners of Big Rig restaurant and brewery, a lot.

Jaymes White is Ottawa’s answer to Grigori Rasputin or the Amazing Kreskin – mentalists who used their talents either to gain political influence or please an audience.

When OBJ last checked in with Steve Edgett, the 2010 Forty Under 40 recipient was receiving accolades for his achievements as vice-president at EMS Technologies Canada.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization operates under different rules than most networking groups.

Like many entrepreneurs, Ottawa-based ProjectSpeaker founder Pierre Bisaillon started early.

Imagine a city where your vehicle can talk to pretty much every other machine.

In less than four years, it will be time to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial – or, to put it in plainer language, the nation’s 150th birthday.

The role of government in supporting professional sports franchises and funding their facilities is a hot topic.

Inside a nondescript industrial building on the outskirts of Stittsville, co-owner Lawrence (Laurie) Dickson and sales manager Ken Toews sit down to describe the 22-year odyssey that saw L-D Tool…

Robert Beauchamp started Ottawa’s RjR Innovations in 2004 with a Visa credit card and a $10,000 laptop he bought to run virtual environments for clients.

Talking with Larry Poirier, president of TUC Brands and founder of Nitro IT Business Solutions, is like entering a quiet oasis in the storm that TUC Brands is creating in the managed IT services sp

Allan Ghosn went into business a decade ago, determined to provide the last mile of tech service to the home and the consumer. Think Nerds on Site on steroids.

When you deal with digital security for customers such as the U.S. Army – as does the largest client of local startup Fusebill – there are significant considerations.

How do you start and grow a virtual marketing communications company in Ottawa into one with an international client base, nine full-time employees and revenues reaching seven figures?

I met Govindh Jayaraman when he was a student and I was with the Ottawa Senators back in the day.

"The sky is falling, the sky is ..." This seems to be the cry of many observers of Ottawa's tech scene, who think it's the end of Silicon Valley North.

Rob Hall was into the Internet before there was one. In high school in the 1980s, he dabbled in web technology and was ready for the Internet revolution circa the early 1990s.

I recently interviewed screenwriter Sharon Buckingham, best known as the writer/producer and creative force behind Sticks & Stones, a CTV made-for-TV movie.

One would expect a company with 31,000 employees and revenues of $4.32 billion - making it the seventh-largest systems integrator in the world - to have a big attitude.

While it's often hard to tell whether a tech company is a hardware or software business, or a services or products studio, there's no doubt about RocketOwl.

I recently interviewed the tall, charismatic 30-year old Select Start Studios CEO Tariq Zaid at the company's cool headquarters in an old stone building fronting Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa.

What can a pair of male University of Waterloo engineering grads possibly know about the rapidly growing market for beauty products, where 98 per cent of customers are female?

BTI Systems may be the fastest-growing tech company flying under the radar of some in Ottawa.

Jennifer MacKinnon started Fenix Solutions in 2001 after the Montreal-based tech company she was working for decided to pull out of the Ottawa market.

Anyone who starts a company with the following tagline is bound to be different: "We give men (and the people who love them) more time to build empires, climb mountains (and) slay dragons to achiev

I built my own Shopify store on the company’s platform in less than 10 minutes.

Standards such as, say, a common language, a common currency, a set of laws, dates, times, volumes and 18,000 other things covered by the International Organization of Standardization have made eve

I recently spoke with Sylvain Lauzon, vice-president at Calypso Waterpark and former employee of Rick Hunter’s rival firm ProSlide Technology Inc., which hopes to open Alottawatta Water Park in 201

For the first three quarters of my advance copy of the book Delivering Happiness by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh (pronounced “Shay”), I felt like this was going to be the third book I have ever

After meeting with executives from local venture capital firm Wesley Clover last week, I left with a feeling that I’d just experienced a Bizarro moment.

A lot of my students over the years have told me, as they get closer to graduation, that they’re going to leave our cold-weather city as soon as they get degrees.

"The world is a tough, competitive place,” said Jerry Maguire in the film of the same name.

The City of Ottawa's policy on densifying the national capital region is working, at least if price differentials are any indication of success: a new three-bedroom townhome on Centrepointe Drive (

I can't speak to the issue of what we should do with Lansdowne Park or whether a snow dump in Kanata should be the home to a new Major League Soccer team.