Date: November 10, 2021
To: BIC Partners, Funders and Collaborators
From: Jim Grey, Chair of the Board of Directors
Re: Upcoming Change in BIC leadership
As trusted partners and collaborators, the Board of Directors wishes to inform you of an upcoming change in our leadership team at Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) and the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance Fund.
As you know, BIC is a nationally focused not-for-profit business accelerator that provides critical strategic investment, advice, and services to business developers of clean, green and sustainable technologies. In 2015, BIC established the Centre for Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovation (COMM SCI) initiative, which acts as a hub for the commercialization of sustainable chemistry and bio-based innovation. The Sustainable Chemistry Alliance Fund provides the critical investment that acts as the engine for commercialization of innovative technologies.
Over the years, BIC’s support to innovators has contributed to their important environmental and socio-economic achievements, including:
• Reduced CO2 emissions by a documented 1 megaton (Mt).
• Created more than 4,400 jobs created through $17.3 million in direct investment, leveraging over $250 million in third party investment for 30 early-stage companies
In addition, BIC manages the Bioproducts AgSci Research Cluster initiative which is a nationally distributed pre-commercial research cluster focused on the development of industrial bioproducts technologies and their feedstocks from the Canadian agriculture sector. The cluster initiative is supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s Agriscience Program.
With a recent contribution from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), BIC has also developed the Ontario Bioindustrial Innovation Network (OBIN). OBIN continues to support the growth of the Hybrid Chemistry Cluster in Sarnia-Lambton and enabled the launch of a new Sustainable Chemistry Cluster in the Eastern Ontario St. Lawrence Corridor region centred around Brockville and Maitland. BIC is also working to support the development of a second Sustainable Chemistry Cluster in the Niagara Ontario region.
Against this backdrop, the BIC Board embarked last year on a refresh of the 5-year strategic plan and established important expectations to expand OBIN beyond its current geography and offer its investment, advice and services as a pan-Canadian business accelerator.
As we embark on this new journey, BIC Executive Director, A.J. (Sandy) Marshall has chosen to step aside and make way for new leadership to drive this strategic plan and expand BIC’s reach on a full-time basis. A search will begin immediately to identify a replacement and Sandy will remain in the Executive Director position until the board has identified the successful candidate, expected early in 2022.
Sandy remains committed to supporting BIC. He will continue to provide advisory services and has accepted the position of Director of the Ontario Bioindustrial Innovation Network (OBIN). Sandy will transition into this new role once the new Executive Director is in place.
The Board of Directors wishes to express its gratitude and congratulations to Sandy for his leadership and expertise during his time as Executive Director and previously as Chair of the Board of Directors. His invaluable contribution has allowed BIC to make an undeniable contribution to build and accelerate the commercialization of clean, green and sustainable technologies in Canada.
Feel free to contact BIC using the form on the Contact page if you wish to obtain more information.