“If you want to do business in the gaming sector, come to the Sault.”
That from Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano after announcing $645,000 in provincial funding for two gaming sector companies at Roberta Bondar Place Friday.
“The gaming sector is changing and technology is bringing us in a new direction, and it’s so important to move with technology,” Romano said.
The funding will help the gaming sector to grow in the north, Romano said, speaking at a podium draped with an ‘Open for Business’ banner.
Canadian Bank Note, established in 1897 with its main office in Ottawa, also has offices in the Sault and Calgary.
Receiving $500,000 from the Ontario government, Romano explained the funding for Canadian Bank Note “is to develop an industry-leading bingo management system.”
“This is going to set them apart from the competition,” Romano said.
The bingo management system will be software designed to manage and deliver gaming across multiple platforms in Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) licensed gaming centres.
The system tracks inventory, sales and prizes and displays information to players through audio-visual displays, manages player accounts and performs financial management.
“Canadian Bank Note will be able to grow its charitable gaming business outside of Ontario and that is very critical because we want to show the rest of the country and we want to show the world that ‘you want to come here to do business, and specifically we want you here in Sault Ste. Marie, in northern Ontario,’” Romano said.
It is anticipated five new jobs will be created at the Sault’s Canadian Bank Note office as a result of the funding, and help to retain existing full time jobs at the office.
Canadian Bank Note established an operation in the Sault with a staff of two in 2006, now with a local team of over 50 employees.
The Sault office handles electronic bingo in 31 charitable gaming centres in Ontario, electronic 50/50 raffles, digital instant games and video lottery terminal games.
“This funding will enable us to invest in the development of a leading edge digital bingo management system. The charitable gaming landscape is cluttered with inflexible systems using decades-old technology. This new platform will break down barriers for private operators, to grow their businesses and maximize charitable funds for their communities,” said Erik Helferty, Canadian Bank Note project manager.
A local team of 15 people will be needed to design, develop, test and certify the digital bingo management system, Helferty said.
Insightworks Learning and Development (ILD), a local firm launched seven years ago, will receive $145,920 for training and to develop software for mobile apps, web apps, web browsers and desktop computers to help organizations recruit, train, develop and retain staff through visual, interactive and 3D-learning experiences.
Romano said the funding will help ILD reach new markets, the company specializing in providing information technology solutions for the healthcare, manufacturing and gaming sectors.
Mark Lewis, Insightworks CEO, said “this funding will allow us to accelerate our commercialization and break into larger geographies and add to our staff.”
Four new jobs will be created at Insightworks as a result of the provincial funding announced Friday, the company currently employing eleven people.
“In gaming we’re building a very customized application that will reach our clients needs,” Lewis told SooToday.
“I want to send a message to our community that we are here to grow our economy in Sault Ste. Marie,” Romano said, encouraging entrepreneurs to contact his constituency office, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) or the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC) to pitch their ideas.