Ottawa, Ontario – April 23, 2020:  Invest Ottawa is launching a new limited-edition podcast to provide honest observations about how leaders from Ottawa’s business community are navigating our new reality during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Beginning this week, the limited six edition podcast series titled “Invested in our New Reality” will provide a platform for business leaders to share their experience of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and offer employees, clients, stakeholders and our community authentic observations and practical advice on leading through this crisis.

The podcast will be hosted by Invest Ottawa Board Member and Diversity & Belonging Lead at Shopify, Shavonne Hasfal McIntosh and will present a mix of perspectives from Invest Ottawa and local companies.

“At Shopify and Invest Ottawa, I work with the leaders who are defining the new landscape of opportunities for business owners,” says Hasfal McIntosh. “Our goal for this podcast series is to create access to the knowledge that we’ve collectively accumulated so that more voices can participate in crafting the future of entrepreneurship and business in Ottawa.”

Each episode of the podcast features one-on-one conversations with a different Ottawa-based leader which are honest, personal, thoughtful and impactful while discussing how their company and they themselves are negotiating new challenges within these unique times. The first episode of the series will feature a conversation with Michael Tremblay, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa on his first-hand observations on the impact that COVID19 is having on the business economy.

“During these unprecedented times, we are inspired by the creativity and resilience of entrepreneurs and firms across our region. This includes small businesses at the heart of our community; high-growth tech startups and scaleups; and multinationals that anchor key sectors of our economy. We are evolving our programs and services to help these companies address current challenges, and future proof their business. This podcast will equip industry leaders and their teams with inspiration and actionable insight they can put to work today and tomorrow.  Together, we can preserve more jobs, top talent, high-growth firms and global market opportunity.”

The second episode will feature a discussion with Kelly Gregoire, Vice President of Operations at TryCycle, a leader whose company is helping to mitigate the effects of the pandemic for people in treatment for addiction, substance use, mental illness, depression or trauma. Subsequent episodes will feature a focus on a multinational amid a telecommunications boom, a medical technology company that is revolutionizing diagnostics and who has developed a fast, portable COVID-19 test as well as a conversation on the wide-spread challenge of layoffs and finding new opportunities.

All podcast episodes will be released week by week on the Invest Ottawa website as well as through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Simplecast.

 

For additional information, please contact:

Patrick Kenny
Director, Marketing and Communications
Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards
613.724.7160
[email protected]

 

About Invest Ottawa

Invest Ottawa is the lead economic development agency for knowledge-based industries in Canada’s Capital, facilitating economic growth and job creation in the City of Ottawa. Guided by a vision to help realize Ottawa’s full potential as a globally recognized, innovative and future-ready city, and the best place to learn, work, live, and play. Invest Ottawa delivers venture development, global expansion and talent programs and services that catalyze the growth and success of entrepreneurs and firms. These include: small business training; mentorship; acceleration for technology firms; foreign business and investment attraction; local business retention and expansion in targeted sectors; commercialization; and marketing Ottawa’s diversified economy and high quality of life.  Since 2012, Invest Ottawa has worked with thousands of entrepreneurs and companies; helped firms attract more than $602M in capital; contributed to the creation of more than 8,450 jobs; and attracted $575M in domestic and foreign investment: investottawa.ca