Speaking Points
Susan Truppe, Member of Parliament for London North Centre
London, Ontario
October 15, 2014
Check against delivery
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends and guests.
I would like to thank Voices.com for hosting today's announcement. It is a pleasure to be here. C'est un grand plaisir d'être avec vous aujourd'hui.
As a Member of Parliament, one of the best parts of my job is visiting the people and the businesses in the communities I represent. I'm pleased to be here at Voices.com, as I have previously visited their new office space. I was pleased to tour it again with Minister Goodyear and with the members of the Southwestern Ontario Angel Group, who are here today.
As the Minister mentioned, the economic growth of our region is particularly important to me. And we can see how FedDev Ontario has been helping businesses, organizations and communities here in the London area over the past few years with the examples the Minister mentioned.
October is Small Business Month and today I am pleased to announce investments totalling $1.4 million to support new and growing businesses in London.
Voices.com is receiving up to $900,000 to go global by expanding its project management division and translating its products into additional languages. This funding is through FedDev Ontario's Investing in Business Growth and Productivity initiative, which is aimed at helping existing businesses to compete on the international stage.
The Southwestern Ontario Angel Group is receiving up to half a million dollars to increase its membership, increase its pool of investment funds and improve mentoring support to early-stage, high-growth companies. This funding is through the Investing in Business Innovation initiative, which is designed to strengthen our innovation ecosystem here in southern Ontario.
Taking a business idea and turning it into something that does well in commercial markets is something we need to see happen more and more in Canada.
The founders of Voices.com have done this extremely well and I congratulate you, David and Stephanie Ciccarelli. Your online hub for voice actors and organizations looking to hire talent is quicker and more cost-effective than traditional casting methods. You have grown your business into a marketplace valued by radio and television stations, advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Indeed, it seems that you have changed the way the whole industry operates!
I'd also like to note that David and Stephanie have been recognized for their entrepreneurial talent, both having been named within the past two years in Business London's Top 20 Under 40 lists.
As Voices.com embarks on its expansion to offer even more value to customers and anticipates creating 45 jobs in London, the Government of Canada is proud to be a partner.
We are also proud to partner with the Southwestern Ontario Angel Group so that it can support newer businesses in their early stages. Beyond providing funding, angel investors provide valuable mentoring and coaching for companies, which contributes to the successful commercialization of innovation.
In fact, it's my understanding that Carmen Gicante from the Southwestern Ontario Angel Group provided guidance to David on his business plan. As you can see, angels really do help businesses take flight!
With FedDev Ontario support, this group expects to increase its membership from 65 to 115 members, resulting in 40 additional companies receiving more than $10 million over the next five years.
Through FedDev Ontario, we continue to invest in jobs, growth and prosperity by supporting start-up and early-stage businesses, right through to successful businesses like Voices.com that want to expand their global reach.
Contributions like these show our Government's commitment to helping this region prosper and to keeping Ontario a great place to do business.
Congratulations again. I'm looking forward to seeing the results that come from these investments. I wish all of those involved the best of luck and success.
Thank you.
