Cleantech Commons positions Peterborough as “a leader and cutting edge community”
Peterborough Mayor, Diane Therrien, says that Cleantech Commons will help position Peterborough as a “leader and cutting edge community” when it comes to building “a more sustainable and green future“.
Quoted by Business View Magazine in an article titled “Peterborough, Ontario: Innovation and invention“, Mayor Therrien says that “most important in regards to Peterborough’s future economic development, is the city’s desire to position itself as Canada’s premier destination for cleantech companies, with a major focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in the field of water technology.”
Identifying Trent University as a “key player” in this regard, the Mayor points to the university’s partnership with the city to create Cleantech Commons, a research and innovation park with a focus on clean, green and low-carbon technology development and commercialization.
“There are specific criteria for businesses that want to locate [at Cleantech Commons],” says Therrien.
“There’s such a demand, these days, for these new technologies around food and water and how we build a more sustainable and green future. So, we’re trying to position Peterborough as a leader and cutting edge community on that front.”
For its part, the city is providing bulk services to support the creation of the research park.
BusinessView also identifies Fleming College’s Centre for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies as a “key player in the realm of advanced water technology”.
CAWT is an internationally-recognized research institute in Peterborough that conducts research in the areas of water and wastewater treatment.
Therrien says that combining the expertise of CAWT with the researchers at Trent University presents a strong case for Peterborough as a location.
“Water is something that a lot of our entrepreneurs are focused on,” says Rhonda Keenan, President & CEO of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development.
“We have a number of companies that have started here, with water technologies that are applicable to many different sectors, such as food production and even the mining industry – any type of industry that is using water that is going to go back into a new cycle. Making sure that they are able to remove contaminants is a specialty that we have here.”
Peterborough is “a good pilot testing ground for new products,” says Keenan.
With its long-standing devotion to innovation and invention, coupled with low housing prices, a plethora of cultural activities, a supportive business sector, and a generally high quality of life, it’s no wonder, says BusinessView, that Peterborough is considered one of the best places to retire in Ontario, as well as among the best places in which to invest.
And as it grows with all the amenities of a big city, but with a small-town feel, Peterborough is primed to become that new center of cleantech entrepreneurship for Canada.
Cleantech Commons will play a pivotal role in this regard.
Offering a unique and picturesque location, and co-located adjacent to one of Canada’s leading environmental academic institutions, Cleantech Commons is designed to be a point of convergence for academic and industry partners driving innovation in clean, green & low-carbon technologies, water technologies, contaminant analysis, agro-biotechnology and biomaterials.
“As a university-linked Research and Technology Park, Cleantech Commons is a physical environment designed to generate, attract and retain science-based technology companies and talent that is aligned with our associated research institutions, including universities and public, private and federal research facilities,” says Cleantech Commons executive director, Martin Yuill.
“Cleantech Commons is all about enabling the flow of ideas between innovation generators – such as universities, colleges, federal labs, and non-profit R&D institutions – and those companies located both in our Park and in the surrounding region.”
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