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Innovation awards honour entrepreneurial spirit

Winners do everything from turning freshwater fish into organic fertilizer to helping create safe spaces in the community.
Innovation Awards 2018
Rent Panda's Richard Togman (from left), URIDE's Samantha Ruberto and Freshwater Cuisine's Jay Barnard accept their 2018 RBC Innovation Awards on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at the Victoria Inn. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – Jay Barnard has found a way to turn fish waste into fertilizer and has his eyes on an almost untapped Canadian marketplace.

After that, the sky’s the limit.

The Kenora entrepreneur on Thursday was honoured for his effort, capturing the innovative project of the year trophy at the 10th annual RBC Innovation Awards, put on by the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre.

It was one of three awards his company, Freshwater Cuisine, was up for at the Victoria Inn event, and it was a true honour to be recognized, Barnard said.

“I don’t think that a lot of people realize how much waste there is in the world, and when you can find creative and innovative ways to use it in a viable business, to not only help the future, but also help things grow and more healthy and organic, those are all trendy things,” Barnard said.

“It’s just phenomenal. For me and my whole team and investors, everyone who’s been with us the last three years, it’s always a real honour to be recognized and win an award.

Barnard, a chef by trade, estimated he only uses about half of every freshwater fish he prepares, and until now the rest was discarded.

Partnering with researchers at Lakehead University, he helped develop the recipe to create the organic liquid fish fertilizer, which he said is tied closely to his company’s food security philosophy and its aim to provide remote First Nations communities in Ontario the ability to create the fertilizer locally to increase northern gardens.

Barnard was one of five entrepreneurs honoured at the lunch-time gala.

Rent Panda was named the innovative company of the year, while Cody Ruberto, who founded the ride-share app URIDE, earned the young innovator of the year award. The city’s Dan Munshaw took home the Marv Detweiler advisor of the year trophy, while Taylor Gorrie was recognized as the innovation hero of the year for her anti-bullying creation, the Safe Zone.

Richard Togman, president of Rent Panda, said rewarding entrepreneurs is important.

“It’s partly an acknowledgement that all of the hard work I’ve put in, me and my team, is really appreciated by the city. We work a lot with the rental community, with landlords and tenants, and we can feel that effect we’re having in the community, finding people a great place to live and really connecting people in a profound way, getting them the right house, the right neighbourhood, the right neighbours,” Togman said.

“This is a great acknowledgement, both for Rent Panda and the rental community that shows that section of the community matters, that renters are not just second-class citizens.”

Judy Sander, manager at the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, said the awards help encourage those who are innovating to keep up the good work.

“It’s never an easy journey. It’s always a tough battle and we need to celebrate them and recognize them and provide that encouragement from the community back to them,” Sander said.

“And the second reason is, I think a lot of times the general community doesn’t know the great things that are going on.”



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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