Innovation foundation has a new president
Published Monday April 27th, 2009
Telegraph Journal
Change Calvin Milbury also takes over CEO duties at NBIF
One of the major provincial innovation-financing organizations has a new leader, as Calvin Milbury steps into the role of president and CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.
James West/For the Telegraph-Journal
Calvin Milbury, the recently appointed president and CEO of New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, looks through a pane of glass at his office in KingTower in Fredericton.
Milbury, who's been with the foundation since its inception in 2003, and served as the vice-president of business development since 2004, said having watched the organization grow is gratifying.
"Looking back over the past six years, it's been very rewarding for me to be involved with the foundation, and particularly involved in venture capital, which was my primary area of responsibility previously," he said. "We've gone through a series of evolutions. At first it was about setting up our organization and creating awareness. But over the years, through our investment activities, we've developed - I think - credibility in the marketplace. We've taken a more professional approach to how we invest and how we run the organization."
"Over the past five years, Calvin has built an impressive portfolio of venture capital investments that have an important impact on New Brunswick," foundation chair Al Lacey said. "Both his commitment and strategic know-how gives us great confidence about continuing the foundation's mandate to develop innovation well into the future."
A provincial native, Milbury worked for Montreal-based venture capital firm Foragen Technologies Management after graduating from the BSc and MBA programs at the University of New Brunswick.
"For me, having grown up in New Brunswick, and knowing the model the foundation was setting up, I thought it was intriguing to have a chance to work in the province and do venture capital," he said. "It's something that's fairly new here, and there are few opportunities to get engaged in that."
The core mandates of the organization are to develop innovation and entrepreneurship within the province, so focus is placed on New Brunswick's universities, colleges and research organizations - institutions doing applied research with the potential to be commercialized.
On the private sector side, the NBIF funds "high-growth" companies, helping them attract more investment to fund their growth plans.
Instead of loans or grants, the foundation provides venture capital, essentially becoming a partner with the company.
"In doing that, it gives us a chance to be involved in the company, to help work with the entrepreneurs and get the company to a point where it's self-sufficient or it can attract other venture capital," Milbury said. "Through this whole process, we really get to see the company from inception all the way out to when it grows and matures and becomes a viable business."
On top of that, Milbury said he's going to try and have the foundation work more closely with the provincial government to achieve some of its goals, such as long-term economic prosperity, and creating a "culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the province."
"One of the things that we want to ensure happens is that we work closely with the province of New Brunswick and our other stakeholders to ensure we're all meeting the common goals of building a better economic foundation," he said. "We believe innovation is a key part of that. It's through innovation that you can discover new opportunities, and those opportunities are needed in broader markets."
One way of doing this, which Milbury is directly involved in, is through the foundation's Breakthru business plan competition, wherein provincial entrepreneurs compete for venture capital funding.
He also helped organize the R3 Gala in October, which featured keynote speaker Richard Florida.
"It's what I'm passionate about," Milbury said of his work with the foundation.
"Trying to help do the technology transfer and create successful, profitable companies. This is all a high-risk game. We don't expect every single investment we make to move forward and be a success story. Our aim is to help them and put the infrastructure around them."
He takes over from previous president Barrie Black, who Milbury said left the foundation to pursue other opportunities.
A woman who answered the phone at Black's home said he was flying to England and wasn't available for comment.