Media releases

  • Applications now open for BioLinc program to support young Niagara entrepreneurs

    MEDIA RELEASE: R00205 – 22 September 2016

    Brock University and Niagara College will continue to facilitate youth entrepreneurship after successfully managing the Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship program and ncTakeOff hub for the last two years.

    Applications for this year’s Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship program can be submitted through BioLinc, Brock’s business incubator until Sept. 25.

    Matt Clarke, an accounting student at Brock’s Goodman School of Business, has experienced the value of the KSE program.

    Last year, Clarke founded Express Deliveries, a local delivery company that has already served over 8,000 customers in Niagara with the help of the program.

    “It helped us a lot,” Clarke said. “They teach you about marketing, accounting, finance – and actually help you get through the beginning stages of your business. They provide you with mentorship, and some competitions we were part of us really taught us how to talk to investors and present ourselves.”

    Born out of a class project, Danielle Speck, a second-year student in Niagara College’s Business – General program, founded Mojo Hydrotherapy, an artisanal bath bomb social enterprise. In under six months, Danielle won the Entrepreneur Challenge, a Niagara College business plan contest supported by ncTakeOff, received a $3000 Summer Company grant via the St. Catharines Enterprise Centre, and has established a distribution network with local markets and retailers, including Niagara College’s Benchmarket.
    "After my entrepreneurship class project, I had so much support from my teacher, Rachel Crane, and couldn’t have imagined the umbrella of opportunities and guidance that would come from her and Niagara College,” Speck said. “ncTakeOff connected me with shop owners, photographers, media, local business support centres, business social events, grant opportunities and more I even thought was available to us.”
    There will be several signature events co-hosted by Brock University and Niagara College, as well as standalone resources which will be offered on respective campuses and tailored to meet the unique needs of each student population.

    Planned for Nov. 4-6, the annual Niagara Young Entrepreneur Kick-Off Weekend will see young entrepreneurs form a team, build and pitch a business idea all in one weekend. The weekend will also include a keynote speaker, business development training, and mentorship opportunities for youth aged 18-29 who are technically skilled or curious about entrepreneurship.

    Other key events include Entrepreneurship Week in March which will feature pitch competitions and networking opportunities, and a showcase in April to celebrate student entrepreneur successes.

    Media inquiries, please contact:
    Dan Dakin
    Media Relations Officer, Brock University
    Office: 905.688.5550 ext. 5353
    Cell: 905-347-1970
    ddakin@brocku.ca

    Susan McConnell
    Media Advisor, Niagara College
    Office: 905 641-2252 ext. 4330
    Cell: 905 933-6259
    susan.mcconnell@niagaracollege.ca

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    Categories: Media releases

  • New book explores border life in Niagara before and after 9/11

    MEDIA RELEASE: R00203 – 22 September 2016

    With the recent 15th anniversary of the tragic Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many Canadians living near the U.S. border were reminded of their changed relationship with their communities, government officials and their American neighbours.

    Everyday life and a sense of national belonging for residents in the Niagara Region are examined in Borderline Canadianness: Border Crossings and Everyday Nationalism in Niagara (2016, University of Toronto Press), a new book by Brock University sociology professor Jane Helleiner.

    The book looks at how life changed after 9/11 for local residents who were long accustomed to making quick, frequent border crossings to shop, dine or engage in cultural and recreation activities.

    “The idea of pursuing research on border life began when I moved from Toronto to Niagara in the early 1990s,” says Helleiner. “At that time, I was immediately struck by the salience of the Canada/U.S. border as new neighbours and colleagues offered information about going ‘over the river’ to the U.S. for shopping and leisure activities.”

    She conducted 51 interviews and an extensive review of the local press to explore the everyday lives and identities of those living at the territorial border and their pre- and post-9/11 border experiences.

    Key findings from the research highlight the complexities of borders and nationalism and the reproduction of inequality through unequal cross-border mobilities.
    Despite extensive histories of going ‘over the river’ residents “remained deeply invested in varied constructions of ‘Canadianness’ with very limited embrace of bi-national hybridity, even by those with dual Canadian/U.S. citizenship,” says Helleiner. “Another important finding is that border residents had a lot to say about how crossings were filtered in classed, gendered and ethnoracialized ways.”

    Borderline Canadianness explores the patterns of “filtered bordering” and how it can further establish classed, racialized, gendered and globalized inequalities by facilitating the cross-border movement of some while constraining the movements of others.

    The research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the book publication was supported in part by the Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS), Brock University Advancement Fund’s Special Purpose Grant and Brock University’s Department of Sociology.

    Helleiner’s book has already received praise from scholars in the fields of border and migration studies and will be celebrated at the joint book launch with Education Professor Susan Tilley’s published book, Doing Respectful Research: Power, Privilege and Passion (2016, Fernwood Publishing) on Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Welch Hall Atrium at Brock University.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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    Categories: Media releases