Program Item Details
TITLE: John Masters, President and CEO, Calgary Technologies Inc
SUBJECT: #217 2006 CTI Showcase
SYNOPSIS: Calgary Technologies Inc recently
celebrated its 25th anniversary with
a showcase of many of the companies
it works with.
AUDIO: Download Audio (mp3 format)
TRANSCRIPT:
#217 November 21, 2006
Interview starts at 00:59
Intro: Calgary Technologies Inc is one of the main anchors in Calgary’s Research Park near the University. Over the last 25 years, CTI has nurtured many inventors and entrepreneurs whose ideas of helped grow Alberta’s technology sector. And that’s exactly what CTI was celebrating at its recent showcase and 25th anniversary party. John Master’s is CTI’s President and CEO.
John Masters
JM: Well I think we’re very fortunate to have 25 years behind us with our founding fathers, the board of directors who had the vision back in 1981. Our growth is really correlated with the growth of the technology sector in Calgary. We’ve been fortunate to be part of that success story and it’s been a wonderful 25 years. I’ve been on board personally 12 of those 25 years. And it’s been a great ride. We all are working extremely hard, but wanted to take some time to celebrate these last great 25 years.
CC: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS?
JM: I think the highlights are in terms of the organization and in terms of the support we’ve had from community and the board. A lot of people ask us about, you know, what are those big successes that the organization has had. And our answers are a little bit more on the vague side of that in terms of we work with the small companies. So the companies we work with are not the household names. But at the same time, our client base continues to increase. We’ve built our second facility here. We’re financially self sustainable. That means we’re providing a strong value proposition to our client base.
CC: NOW AT LAST YEAR’S SHOWCASE, YOU OPENED UP THE GREEN ROOF ON THE TOP OF THE CTI BUILDING. HOW IS THAT COMING ALONG?
JM: We’ve actually got Phase Two of the Green Roof, so we’ve got the other side of the Green Roof. There are a phenomenal number of people who come through the facility just for that purpose. And they’re not really technology related. But our whole purpose on the Green Roof was proof of concept, a demonstration of what could be don. And we’ve also attracted a lot of private sector participation which are really trying to validate now the effectiveness of a Green Roof concept in this microclimate.
So it continues. And I guess it also has been a signature for us. When we won the BOMA, Building Operators Management Award for Building of the Year Award for Canada, the Green Roof was one of the assets that we were able to use in terms of profiling that.
CC: WHAT’S NEW FOR THIS YEAR?
JM: What’s new for this year? Well, we’ve kicked off the master planning for the redevelopment of the Park. That just started in September, so we hope to see a more vibrant, highly densified Park over the next 10 to 15 years, physically connected to the University.
We’ve partnered with Smart Technologies and attracted them to establish their world headquarters here in the Park. They’re scraping ground almost as we speak. They’ve got their excavation permit this week.
We’ve got a couple of new programs that we’re working. And those are some of the elements of our success this year.
CC: WELL, CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN.
JM: Thank you very much.
John Masters is the President and CEO of Calgary Technologies Inc.
FEATURED LINK: Calgary Technologies Inc.