Best Innovation 2019 Nomination

The Best Innovation Award recognizes a business that develops advanced or innovative technologies to meet the needs of industry in B.C. This business contributes to making the province a strong and rapidly growing innovation economy, and is creating a positive impact in their industry and community.

• Innovation: The winning business supports Research and Development to create advanced and innovative technology concepts, products, methods and services.

• Adoption: The business demonstrates how the adoption of their technology has positively impacted the way organizations or industries are doing business.  This impact is apparent through elements such as increases in efficiency, revenue and economic development.

• Collaboration: This business works with partners and organizations to promote the commercialization of advanced and innovative technology in BC.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Best Innovation Award, nominees must have been in operation for a minimum of 12 months in BC. All nominees must have less than 50 employees.

Items Our Judges Will Assess:

Our judges will consider the following when deciding the winner:

• An executive summary that identifies the product or service, customer profile, market and competitive analysis. Plus a marketing strategy, innovation strategy and a summary of financial projections.

• A description of how the company’s product or service is innovative, and how the company is leading innovation in the industry.

• Identify the problem the company sets out to solve and how their technology is redefining the industry by addressing it.

• Explain how Research and Development practices are supported in the company, including: practices to inspire staff and consider their ideas, and dedicated Research and Development staff to test and analyze feasibility, scalability and economics of opportunities.

• Provide proof of effective adoption of innovative technologies by organizations or industries.  Explain how these associated customers experience the positive impacts of the adoption process in areas such as increases in efficiency, revenue and economic development.

• Describe how the company has engaged with external resources. Such as mentorship, entrepreneurial and/or training programs in order to better adopt innovative practices and proprietary ideas. Detail how this has impacted the process of developing the product or service offered by the company. Assisted in determining market or product fit within the applicable target industries.

Prize

The winner of the Best Innovation Award will be recognized with a cash prize of $1,500.

The winner will also be offered a one-year all-access pass to Small Business BC education, resources and experts, and the opportunity for extensive media exposure.

Prize Rules

• The winner of each category will be recognized with a cash prize in the amount of $1,500. As well, will be rewarded a One-Year All-Access Pass to Small Business BC Seminars and “Talk To An Expert” Services.

• The One-Year All-Access Pass includes:

  • All Seminars valued between under $70 (view the current seminar listing). Seminars are available in-person (at the Vancouver office) or available throughout BC via webinar.
  • All “Talk To An Expert” services valued between $0 to $40 (view current Talk to an Expert Services). These are accessible in-person or via Skype.

• The One-Year All-Access Pass excludes:

  • Seminar Packages including, but not limited to, the Focused Business Planning and the Business Finance Package.
  • Advisory Services including, but not limited to, Business Plan Review Services, Market Research Advisory Service and Trade Advisory Service.
• Any employee of the winning business may participate on behalf of the business owner, however only ONE person may access SBBC’s resources at any given time. All services must be accessed during a one year period commencing March 1, 2020 and ending March 1, 2021. Any education or expert services wishing to be attended after that time must be paid in full through normal SBBC booking procedures.
• All services MUST be booked online on the Small Business BC website or through a SBBC Client Services Representative using the unique Access Code printed on the All-Access Pass. SBBC reserves the right to make changes to the All-Access Pass usage and to end the privilege of the card holder if the rules are not followed.