Local tech company proves you can dream big and find success in Sault Ste. Marie

November 4, 2020

The common narrative among young people growing up in Sault Ste. Marie is if you have big dreams, you have to leave the small community behind and move to a bigger city to be successful. 

When you’re a high-school student aspiring to be an entrepreneur, or aiming to pursue a career in tech, the misconception you’ll hear most often is there are few jobs and a slim chance at sustainable employment opportunities. 

For local software developers Brenda Saunders and her husband Robbie Saunders, moving back home to Sault Ste. Marie provided an opportunity to grow their trakrSuite company while developing a mobile app known as saniTrakr, a time-saving COVID-19 screening solution for businesses and employees.

The saniTrakr app has been launched for about two-and-a-half months, and has sparked interest from hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants, manufacturers, breweries, security companies, and offices both locally and nationally. 

“(If you’re a business owner) saniTrakr is an application that consolidates all your protocols for COVID-19, including employee screening, maintaining cleaning of washrooms and public spaces as well as COVID tracing,” Saunders told SooToday in an October article.

Brenda, a Sault-native, had previously lived in Elmira, Ontario, which is located in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Her husband Robbie was an employee of Blackberry, and about eight years ago he suggested moving back to Sault Ste. Marie to open a Canadian office for their hardware company called Infinite Peripherals. 

Once they moved back to the Sault, Saunders explained they were only able to sell their hardware to retail companies due to fact that their customers had their own developers creating their own software. They decided to shift to the software development world after discovering a market they felt they were missing out on. 

From that point, their software development company called trakrSuite was created. Their first development was an inventory app, which was being developed over the past two-and-a-half years and was nearing an official launch after some beta testing. 

Once COVID-19 made its way to Sault Ste. Marie, Brenda, Robbie, and Director of Sales Vicki Zeppa decided to shift gears and address a need in the maintenance and cleaning industry, which was a niche that was widely ignored prior to the pandemic. This is when the saniTrakr app was born.

When describing the application’s development process, Saunders says their approach was built from the insights and specific needs of businesses as a result of COVID-19. 

“One of the things we really pride ourselves on is building everything from the end user up,” she said. “We spent a lot of time talking with customers and talking with business owners and building that way because we want the user to have the experience that makes their job easier.”

When Saunders left Sault Ste. Marie, she was part of the “90’s crowd” that left and didn’t come back. She explained many young people wanted to leave and see what other opportunities were out there. Since coming back to the Sault as a mother and now a business owner, she said she sees the potential within the community and what it could have been in the past. 

“It’s a great place to start a business because you don’t have the large overheads (in comparison to bigger communities),” she said. “Nowadays our market is the world, so it doesn’t matter where we are. Why wouldn’t I want to be some place that, when I’m not working, I’m enjoying? Where I can be successful and maybe even be a leader a bit sooner than I would have been (in a big city.)”

Saunders highlighted the growth of diversity in the community, specifically the international students and those who have immigrated to Sault Ste. Marie, as being a contributor to the growing local tech sector.

When asked to provide some advice to the young people in the community who are planning their future and pursuing careers, Saunders said she would give the exact advice she has given her 16-year-old son. 

“Don’t be in a rush to make those decisions without having some experience or doing the work here, because no matter where you are in the beginning, there is going to be a lot of ‘no’s’, there is going to be a lot of ‘maybe later’s’, and there is going to be a lot of obstacles,” she advised. 

“I think that if you have an opportunity to stay in our community, do the groundwork, do what you have to get done, stay here for school, there’s no reason to get yourself into a position where you’re struggling before you even had a chance to be successful.”

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Northern Ontario Value-Added Agriculture (NOVA) Program Launches

October 11, 2024
The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) has launched the Northern Ontario Value-Added Agriculture (NOVA) Program to empower agri-food entrepreneurs across Northern Ontario to develop new food products. By offering workshops, training sessions, networking events, and a mentorship program, NOVA aims to equip Northern entrepreneurs with the essential skills and knowledge needed for long-term business growth and sustainability. Supported by $42,080 in funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, NOVA will address the critical need for professional development in the agri-food sector. It focuses on enhancing entrepreneurial skills, improving safety and risk management practices, and providing strategies to expand market presence at home and abroad. “The agri-food promise and potential of Northern Ontario is immense, and our government will continue to work with Northern partners like the SSMIC to help seize it,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. “NOVA will help unlock more of the huge untapped entrepreneurial energy and ambition of Northern agri-food entrepreneurs to build strong local businesses, create good-paying jobs and strengthen Northern Ontario’s economy.” Program goals include strengthened business capabilities, job creation, and increased economic activity, leading to a more vibrant and sustainable agri-food sector in Northern Ontario. By fostering public engagement with agriculture and local food, NOVA will also contribute to rural development and enhanced community well-being. "Through the NOVA Program, we are excited to provide agri-food entrepreneurs with the tools and networks they need to thrive," said Peter Bruijns, Executive Director of the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre. "This initiative not only supports individual businesses but also strengthens our entire region's agricultural ecosystem." For more information visit: https://rainalgoma.ca/programs/the-northern-ontario-value-added-agriculture-nova-training-program/ SSMIC would also like to thank FedNor the Government of Canada, and the Sault Ste Marie Community Development Corporation for their support in this exciting program. 

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