Ontario Construction News staff writer
Canadian Construction Innovations (CCI), in partnership with the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and with support from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), says it has launched the 2019 CONtact innovator mentorship program.
The initiative aimsย toย matchย aspiringย innovators andย entrepreneurs creating new solutions for the construction industryย withย experienced industry leaders to helpย refine their productsย andย servicesย be it fromย start-up to scale-upย forย fast-trackย adoption.
โOur goal is to spark innovation and accelerate the use of new solutions to improve the industryโs productivity, safety, profitability and contribution to building sustainable communities,โ CCA president Mary Van Buren said in a statement.
โOne of the biggest challenges for innovators and entrepreneursย developing new solutions is gaining access to executives in the industry to get feedback on their solutions. Equally,ย it can be difficult for the industry to learn about leading-edgeย solutionsย that can dramatically improve their businesses.ย CONtactย provides theย perfect platformย to overcome that challenge,โ she said.
CCI chair Johnย Bockstael said: โThe CONtact program not only encourages progressive entrepreneurs and innovators who have the potential and opportunity to transform the industry especially from a technology perspective, but also acts as a magnet to attract a tech-savvy next-gen workforce.โ
The 2019 CONtact innovator mentorship program has been launched based on a successful pilot program earlier this year where select mentees had the opportunity to receive valuable advice from industry experts to improve their product offering for industry acceptance.
Innovators and entrepreneurs interested in participating in the mentorship program can submitย online applications by Aug. 30 at cca-acc.com/contact.
Successfulย applicantsย will be announced in early Octoberย and will be matchedย with mentorsย soon after.
CCI invites constructionย expertsย with five plus years ofย industry practiceย orย whoย have experience in helping to bring innovative solutions to market to apply online as mentorsย atย cca-acc.com/contact.