Innovation and job creation in London through the CCPV

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: DAN TODD
On May 29, 2015, Fanshawe College Peter Devlin, Mayor Matt Brown, MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London Joe Preston and Susan Rabkin, chair for the Board of Governors took a spade to break ground in the commencement of building the Canadian Centre for Product Validation.

London has been called a perfect market for testing out new products and services. Along with its diverse demographics, the city is also located directly between Toronto and Detroit, which are both major markets.

Dr. Ben Cecil, associate VP academic at Fanshawe College, as well as the chief business officer af the Canadian Centre for Product Validation (CCPV) said that along with location, the city’s history of manufacturing and previous lack of a lab like the CCPV make it an ideal market for product testing. The centre will offer a number of services including electrical, mechanical, performance, thermal and environmental testing.

“While there are other labs out there that might offer one of the services, or maybe two of those types of services, or they do it across a whole bunch of different locations, again taking time away from that firm being able to get to market with that new product, we do it all under one roof.”

He added that the city’s manufacturing base is unique because while it has shifted away from traditional areas such as the automotive sector and the defense sector have grown significantly. Manufacturing firms that survived the 2008 recession have also had to move products out faster than ever before, and have become more focused on meeting consumer demand. Companies are looking to the CCPV for proper testing of their products that won’t slow the process of them getting it onto shelves.

The centre provides the services to test products to make sure that they do what they are supposed to do and do so safely. Another unique service they offer is what Cecil calls the “business book ends”.

“Designing business plans, [and] marketing plans to ensure that their product, [or] their concept, actually has a marketplace to go to. When we’ve ensured that that is actually the case, and that their product is indeed safe for the consumer, we can also do the other book end, which is wrapping the social media around it, the marketing plans and all of the details to ensure that market can get penetrated by that product in a way that makes sense for the business.”

While other companies in the private sector argued that government funding for the centre created unfair competition, Cecil pointed out that the government recognized an opportunity to foster innovation and job creation in the province and the community, as well as the fact other labs are competing in a different piece of the market.

“Fairness is about what’s right for Canada, what’s right for the region, what’s right for the manufacturers of Southern Ontario and Ontario in general… Two years later after we made our submission, we’re still hearing that this is a service that is not being provided. They want that service, and because nobody else is providing it, we’re filling that very specific niche in the market space.”

The building of this centre can only improve upon an already excellent market for testing out new businesses and their products. The Canadian Centre for Product Validation is set to open this spring in London’s Advanced Manufacturing Park.