2012 Nominee Bios / Overviews Innovation & Creativity Business Award
This award celebrates a business operating in Haliburton County that shows innovation and creativity in their business practices, products and services to sustain or expand their business and contribute to the local economy. The business can be in any sector (health and wellness, retail, service, arts and culture, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, financial, tourism, food services, environmental etc).
This creativity and innovations could be in any of the following areas: types of products and services, marketing, use of technology, increasing the value of products or services, business model, energy conservation, creation of employment, expanding the market for products and services, the creation of new intellectual property.
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Artech Studios
Artech Glassblowing Studios is a traditional glassblowing studio in the Haliburton Highlands nestled in the rocks and woods of ghost town Tory Hill in an old United Church. As a Glassblowing business, they strive to design work that is inspired by their native Canadian surroundings.
Artech Studios produces its own line of production blown glass pieces. They also design and build ergonomic glass blowing equipment for many public and private glass studios across North America. Artech Studios offers glass blowing and arts-in residence programs on-site – educating people on the art of glass blowing. With the recent addition of a Mobile Glass Studio, they are now able to “take their educational show on the road”.
Their creative designs can be seen in art shows across the country, including the One of a Kind Show, and retail stores. At the moment, more than 60 stores across Canada and United States carry the unique blown-glass designs and table wear of Artech Studios.
Artech Studios continues to grow and thrive – employing several employees who help with the glass blowing and product shows.
Bent Nose Media “Highways to Fairways”
Bent Nose Media is founded and run on the concept of challenging ‘Why’. Why can’t two guys with a dream and minimal experience make a TV show? Why do you have to be the biz to be IN the biz? And Why can’t a successful multimedia company be run out of a small town like Haliburton?
Charlie and Wayde are not ones to be told what they can’t do, but would rather expend boundless energy figuring out what they can. They teamed up two years ago to create a concept, then made a plan, then formed a budget followed by (literally) mapping a route to their dream. Highways to Fairways – the simple yet daunting dream to create their own television show, was born.
What they didn’t already have they found a way to get. What they didn’t already know, they found a way to learn. Whoever they didn’t know, they found connections to. All this, based on a little fear, a little more sweat and a whole lot of perseverance.
Two years later, after financing, shooting and editing, Highways to Fairways went to air in Canada on four different networks. Shortly thereafter, the show entered into a deal that would take it to the international level. Highways to Fairways sits ready to, quite literally, take on the world. Meanwhile their company, Bent Nose Media, has filmed at the pre-eminent Canadian country music festival; shot exclusive video for the most famous hockey team in the world (Montreal Canadiens) and was the official videographer to Canada’s most star-studded celebrity golf event.
All this for two guys from Haliburton? Why not?
Haliburton Indoor Cycling
Haliburton Indoor Cycling offers a Spinning training program to residents of the Haliburton Highlands, regardless of age or current fitness level. The program is unique in that it is unlike other group exercise programs. It is a system with purpose, direction and components that are not only physical, but mental and inspirational as well. It isn’t just a “workout” in a group exercise class where everyone is pushed to keep the pace set by the instructor with no purpose, direction, or heart rate guidelines. The program is always individually paced and conducted under guidelines using heart rate training parameters, energy zones, mental components, terrain and movements. Everyone is encouraged to ride at their own pace and control their own intensity to complete a session that’s right for them without worrying about keeping up with the rider next to them.
The use of Star Trac’s patented line of Spinner bikes makes for an eco-friendly exercise program as no electricity is required! Class members are encouraged to use their Spinning program water bottles to save on plastic bottle waste.
The Studio recently raised over $1,000 in the Do It For Daron Spin-a-thon, where all proceeds went to awareness programs related to suicide prevention and children’s mental health. Future Spin-a-thons will include raising money for the breakfast program at the local schools. The Spinning program gives people the opportunity to finally be somewhere where they don’t feel like they have to compete with another class participant, and where no one is judging them.
Heat-line / Limnion Corporation
Inventing and manufacturing water pipe freeze protection systems since 1988, the Heat-Line/Limnion Corporation has numerous Canadian and USA patents.
Heat-Line was founded in Haliburton County in 1988 and has become a leader in pipe freeze protection systems. Their products are used as far south as Antarctica and as far north as Eureka, Nunavut. Heat-Line Products are sold right across Canada, and the USA – and can even be found in Hawaii, Europe and Russia. Every year, since its inception in 1988, has been a growth year in terms of sales.
This innovative company views problems as opportunities. In 2009, they expanded their knowledge down a new road and began to explore opportunities associated with ground source geothermal heating and cooling. While the geothermal concept is a viable one, the Corporation became alarmed when they was mats of pipes called lake loops being strewn in our Haliburton lakes and waterways for geothermal heating and cooling. Knowing that there had to be a better approach, they assembled a team to invent a new system that would exist in harmony with the environment and provide years of trouble free heating and cooling using the lake as its source. From this work was born a new company – Limnion Corporation and a number of important new products, products which can reduce fossil energy consumption by as much as 70%. These products are already gaining world-wide recognition and represent a small fraction of an entirely new industry created by the Limnion Corporation called Geo-Thermal Transfer Systems.
In 2012, they will be expanding again, opening a new research and manufacturing facility at Stanhope Airport.
Wintergreen Maple Products
GOOD THINGS COME IN TREES…
Wintergreen Maple Products has encompasses a wide variety of aspects over its 25 year lifespan. They initially started as a 1,000 tap maple syrup operation combined with ‘Cavanes a sucre’ or in English, a sugar shack. Relocating a Minden heritage barn to their current location in Gelert, they set-up a processing facility, restaurant and a retail area in a century old barn. Over the years, Wintergreen has provided a wide variety of maple syrup products, a complete maple themed menu, sugar bush tours, and educational sessions on the techniques of maple syrup production and the heritage of the early settlers and First Nations. In recent years, their business has expanded to include a food processing facility specializing in baked goods, canned and bottled foods, barbequed specialty meats and large event catering on and off-site. Well over 100 unique and tasty preserves, sauces, jams and jellies in combinations suitable for gift baskets and corporate gifts originate from this Gelert business.
The addition of 3 mobile “kitchen trailers” has allowed Wintergreen Maple Products to ‘take their show on the road’ feeding groups as large as 1,000 (at the Walk for Life), Golden Helmet Rides, car rallies, Canada Day and other community events. Employing many local youth and adults over the years, Wintergreen continues to impact life in the Haliburton Highlands and beyond.
Yours Outdoors
Owned by Barrie Martin, Yours Outdoors (Y0) is an adventure company and innovator in tourism. YO offers creative learning and outdoor adventures that explore and celebrate the rich natural and cultural heritage of Haliburton County in all seasons. The experiences created by YO combine art, heritage, nature, culinary, and outdoor recreation activities to appeal to a range of interests. Themed packages are creatively titled and described to attract interest, and often involve “celebrities” and other special touches to add more value to the experience.
YO is also innovative in that it provides a packaging or “experience brokering” service that does not exist or is rare in tourism regions. Many tourism jurisdictions lack the capacity and resources to develop, and offer, packages that are truly experiential in nature. Yours Outdoors fills that gap in Haliburton. YO has been invited by tourism agencies throughout Ontario to make presentations and conduct workshops on experiential tourism thereby promoting the Highlands as an innovator in tourism.
YO is also an innovator in community engagement working with over 80 local businesses, organizations, and individuals enhancing their “bottom line”; being actively involved on a volunteer basis serving on several Boards; providing consulting services for local projects; designing and scheduling packages for “shoulder” seasons; encouraging seasonal and permanent residents to explore their “own backyard” with YO experiences; inviting local media, tourism, and front office staff to participate in packages to better understand and promote the product; buying locally; and promoting the community through social media, web site and networks.
Close this browser window/tab to return to the Nomination Voting form
2012 Nominee Bios / Overviews
Innovation & Creativity Business Award
This award celebrates a business operating in Haliburton County that shows innovation and creativity in their business practices, products and services to sustain or expand their business and contribute to the local economy. The business can be in any sector (health and wellness, retail, service, arts and culture, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, financial, tourism, food services, environmental etc).
This creativity and innovations could be in any of the following areas: types of products and services, marketing, use of technology, increasing the value of products or services, business model, energy conservation, creation of employment, expanding the market for products and services, the creation of new intellectual property.
Artech Studios
Artech Glassblowing Studios is a traditional glassblowing studio in the Haliburton Highlands nestled in the rocks and woods of ghost town Tory Hill in an old United Church. As a Glassblowing business, they strive to design work that is inspired by their native Canadian surroundings.
Artech Studios produces its own line of production blown glass pieces. They also design and build ergonomic glass blowing equipment for many public and private glass studios across North America. Artech Studios offers glass blowing and arts-in residence programs on-site – educating people on the art of glass blowing. With the recent addition of a Mobile Glass Studio, they are now able to “take their educational show on the road”.
Their creative designs can be seen in art shows across the country, including the One of a Kind Show, and retail stores. At the moment, more than 60 stores across Canada and United States carry the unique blown-glass designs and table wear of Artech Studios.
Artech Studios continues to grow and thrive – employing several employees who help with the glass blowing and product shows.
Bent Nose Media “Highways to Fairways”
Bent Nose Media is founded and run on the concept of challenging ‘Why’. Why can’t two guys with a dream and minimal experience make a TV show? Why do you have to be the biz to be IN the biz? And Why can’t a successful multimedia company be run out of a small town like Haliburton?
Charlie and Wayde are not ones to be told what they can’t do, but would rather expend boundless energy figuring out what they can. They teamed up two years ago to create a concept, then made a plan, then formed a budget followed by (literally) mapping a route to their dream. Highways to Fairways – the simple yet daunting dream to create their own television show, was born.
What they didn’t already have they found a way to get. What they didn’t already know, they found a way to learn. Whoever they didn’t know, they found connections to. All this, based on a little fear, a little more sweat and a whole lot of perseverance.
Two years later, after financing, shooting and editing, Highways to Fairways went to air in Canada on four different networks. Shortly thereafter, the show entered into a deal that would take it to the international level. Highways to Fairways sits ready to, quite literally, take on the world. Meanwhile their company, Bent Nose Media, has filmed at the pre-eminent Canadian country music festival; shot exclusive video for the most famous hockey team in the world (Montreal Canadiens) and was the official videographer to Canada’s most star-studded celebrity golf event.
All this for two guys from Haliburton? Why not?
Haliburton Indoor Cycling
Haliburton Indoor Cycling offers a Spinning training program to residents of the Haliburton Highlands, regardless of age or current fitness level. The program is unique in that it is unlike other group exercise programs. It is a system with purpose, direction and components that are not only physical, but mental and inspirational as well. It isn’t just a “workout” in a group exercise class where everyone is pushed to keep the pace set by the instructor with no purpose, direction, or heart rate guidelines. The program is always individually paced and conducted under guidelines using heart rate training parameters, energy zones, mental components, terrain and movements. Everyone is encouraged to ride at their own pace and control their own intensity to complete a session that’s right for them without worrying about keeping up with the rider next to them.
The use of Star Trac’s patented line of Spinner bikes makes for an eco-friendly exercise program as no electricity is required! Class members are encouraged to use their Spinning program water bottles to save on plastic bottle waste.
The Studio recently raised over $1,000 in the Do It For Daron Spin-a-thon, where all proceeds went to awareness programs related to suicide prevention and children’s mental health. Future Spin-a-thons will include raising money for the breakfast program at the local schools. The Spinning program gives people the opportunity to finally be somewhere where they don’t feel like they have to compete with another class participant, and where no one is judging them.
Heat-line / Limnion Corporation
Inventing and manufacturing water pipe freeze protection systems since 1988, the Heat-Line/Limnion Corporation has numerous Canadian and USA patents.
Heat-Line was founded in Haliburton County in 1988 and has become a leader in pipe freeze protection systems. Their products are used as far south as Antarctica and as far north as Eureka, Nunavut. Heat-Line Products are sold right across Canada, and the USA – and can even be found in Hawaii, Europe and Russia. Every year, since its inception in 1988, has been a growth year in terms of sales.
This innovative company views problems as opportunities. In 2009, they expanded their knowledge down a new road and began to explore opportunities associated with ground source geothermal heating and cooling. While the geothermal concept is a viable one, the Corporation became alarmed when they was mats of pipes called lake loops being strewn in our Haliburton lakes and waterways for geothermal heating and cooling. Knowing that there had to be a better approach, they assembled a team to invent a new system that would exist in harmony with the environment and provide years of trouble free heating and cooling using the lake as its source. From this work was born a new company – Limnion Corporation and a number of important new products, products which can reduce fossil energy consumption by as much as 70%. These products are already gaining world-wide recognition and represent a small fraction of an entirely new industry created by the Limnion Corporation called Geo-Thermal Transfer Systems.
In 2012, they will be expanding again, opening a new research and manufacturing facility at Stanhope Airport.
Wintergreen Maple Products
GOOD THINGS COME IN TREES…
Wintergreen Maple Products has encompasses a wide variety of aspects over its 25 year lifespan. They initially started as a 1,000 tap maple syrup operation combined with ‘Cavanes a sucre’ or in English, a sugar shack. Relocating a Minden heritage barn to their current location in Gelert, they set-up a processing facility, restaurant and a retail area in a century old barn. Over the years, Wintergreen has provided a wide variety of maple syrup products, a complete maple themed menu, sugar bush tours, and educational sessions on the techniques of maple syrup production and the heritage of the early settlers and First Nations. In recent years, their business has expanded to include a food processing facility specializing in baked goods, canned and bottled foods, barbequed specialty meats and large event catering on and off-site. Well over 100 unique and tasty preserves, sauces, jams and jellies in combinations suitable for gift baskets and corporate gifts originate from this Gelert business.
The addition of 3 mobile “kitchen trailers” has allowed Wintergreen Maple Products to ‘take their show on the road’ feeding groups as large as 1,000 (at the Walk for Life), Golden Helmet Rides, car rallies, Canada Day and other community events. Employing many local youth and adults over the years, Wintergreen continues to impact life in the Haliburton Highlands and beyond.
Yours Outdoors
Owned by Barrie Martin, Yours Outdoors (Y0) is an adventure company and innovator in tourism. YO offers creative learning and outdoor adventures that explore and celebrate the rich natural and cultural heritage of Haliburton County in all seasons. The experiences created by YO combine art, heritage, nature, culinary, and outdoor recreation activities to appeal to a range of interests. Themed packages are creatively titled and described to attract interest, and often involve “celebrities” and other special touches to add more value to the experience.
YO is also innovative in that it provides a packaging or “experience brokering” service that does not exist or is rare in tourism regions. Many tourism jurisdictions lack the capacity and resources to develop, and offer, packages that are truly experiential in nature. Yours Outdoors fills that gap in Haliburton. YO has been invited by tourism agencies throughout Ontario to make presentations and conduct workshops on experiential tourism thereby promoting the Highlands as an innovator in tourism.
YO is also an innovator in community engagement working with over 80 local businesses, organizations, and individuals enhancing their “bottom line”; being actively involved on a volunteer basis serving on several Boards; providing consulting services for local projects; designing and scheduling packages for “shoulder” seasons; encouraging seasonal and permanent residents to explore their “own backyard” with YO experiences; inviting local media, tourism, and front office staff to participate in packages to better understand and promote the product; buying locally; and promoting the community through social media, web site and networks.