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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
"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?
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
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 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.