creatingthe future, one innovationatatime · 2011. 4. 14. · j ohn keating circles the table in...

BUSINESS MONITOR

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CFFB Highlights Eyelight

Eyelight Creative Marketing, ownedand operated by husband and wife

Ron and Deb Repke, was the featuredfamily business at the Centre for Fam-ily Business breakfast meeting in Sep-tember. Guest speaker at the meetingwas University of Waterloo PresidentDavid Johnston.Deb Repke explains that she and Ronfirst met on a professional level – herbackground is book illustration, his isfilm production and photographer. Itwas business at first sight... and thepartnership grew to include their per-sonal relationship.Deb says, “We were both working inthe field. I was an art director at threeother agencies prior to meeting Ron,and he was a video production consult-antWe got to know each other and de-cided we could do a better job. That’show we started our life.”The company has now knowndecades of success. The partners sug-gest that a number of factors have con-tributed to their longevity. Ron says,“ourcompany is run efficiently.That’s an im-portant element, to deliver projects ef-fectively without having to hire toomany people. We pride ourselves thatwe don’t have to have 20 people or

100 people; we can do it with the num-ber of people we have and still get thejob done. The client doesn’t end uppaying for a lot of stuff they didn’t reallyneed.”Deb points to “our attention to detailand the fact that we really listen.We’vekept our clients some of them... 22 to25 years. I think we deliver what theyask for and go above and beyond ex-pectations.We hear repeatedly that wedo the job right the first time.We listenand we really understand what they'retrying to accomplish.”She adds, “We have a lot of systemsin place that allow us to move reallyquickly. One thing we do do well ismake sure we monitor a job from startto finish.Whereas a lot of agencies maynot have someone on staff throughoutproduction, taking care of the details,that is something that we excel at.”Deb says, “We’ve expanded our list ofabilities to coincide with what our cus-tomers are asking for. We started outmore as a primarily print shop and wedid some video work, but we've now ex-panded much more into web solutions,custom internet solutions. We get intomedia buying now and more strategythan we had in the past. So we're cer-

tainly becoming more of a full-fledgedagency and being able to offer ourclients much more than just the de-sign.”The partners admit that they don’tagree on absolutely everything. Ronsays, “There’s a difference of opinion.Mine has always been to keep thecompany small, and Debbie doesn'tmind growing it. I think because we’remarried and we have two kids that weare raising the plan is to keep the com-

pany at a certain size so we can keepa balance in life”That doesn’t apply only to the owners.Ron adds, “We don't push overtime onour staff, we say, ‘Go home, have a life,come back in the morning and workhard’.”Deb points out, “We’re growing slowlyand we’re growing carefully,” working toensure that they can always “giveclients the good service that they'reused to.”

The team at Eyelight Creative Marketing, the family business owned and operated by Deb and RonRepke, featured at a recent meeting of the Centre For Family Business.

University of Waterloo Vice President Meg Beckle is celebrating the launch ofVeloCity, which she called “a future success story”. Beckle, vice president of

university relations, said this new venture will add to a long list of success storiesand further strengthen the community’s entre-preneurial culture.“At Velocity we won’t be preparing our studentsfor the future,” she said. “We will be helpingthem make the future, one innovation at atime.”VeloCity is a unique student residence pro-gram, described as “a place where some ofUW’s most talented, entrepreneurial, creativeand technologically savvy students will beunited under one roof to work on the future ofmobile communications, web and new media,...where students, faculty and corporate part-ners will be active collaborators and beneficiar-ies of the talent, ideas and innovations thatevolve.”VeloCity is described as the world’s first resi-

dence building that has been fully supplied withthe latest technology, equipment and gadgets;

you might call it a greenhouse or incubator for innovation.The idea for this UW-based program that will bring together some of the univer-sity’s most creative, innovative and entrepreneurial students, came to its director,Sean Van Koughnett a year ago after he listened to a panel of experts discussingthe future of communications, and where the next generation of innovations mightcome from.“It was clear to me at that point that some of the best ideas have, in the past,and will now and in the future, come from students,” he said. He explained thatthis is because they are the early adopters of technology, and have the know-howand energy to make it better.“It’s our students who will continue to be the innovators, and not necessarily

years after they graduate, but while they’re still in school,” said Van Koughnett. “Itgot me thinking there must be something more we can do as an institution tofocus and support all that energy, and all that passion, and all that knowledge thatour students bring to campus.”Van Koughnett identified four elements he said are critical to VeloCity’s success.The first of these is talent. He said he believes they have been successful at find-ing this talent from all different areas of study.The second element Van Koughnett identified was that of community, which hesaid couldn’t be understated. “VeloCity is just a new addition to a communitythat has been well established here for many years,” he said. “It will hopefullyhelp propel student innovation to the next level.”Place, the third element, is the clustering of the talent and ambition. “We’ve re-cruited students who would have otherwise been spread out and we’re focusingall this energy in one location,” said Van Koughnett. “It’s the clustering effect thatis extremely powerful and absolutely essential to the creative process.”He said he believes a residence in particular is a good place to drive creativity.“Many times the best ideas can’t be forced or planned, they just happen,” saidVan Koughnett.The element of space came about after an observation from a colleague whohas worked with students from MIT and Stanford.Van Koughnett said he observedthat one of the advantages of the university is that the intensity of the experienceand the demanding courseloads produce highly success-ful graduates, but that stu-dents from other schools havea little more head-space tothink freely and creatively.“What VeloCity does is at-tempt to carve out somespace where there is somefreedom to innovate, to pursueyour passion, where the onlylimitations are your time andyour imagination,” said VanKoughnett.“There’s no better time orplace for VeloCity than righthere and right now.”

CREATING THE FUTURE,ONE INNOVATION AT A TIME

From left to right: Sean Van Koughnett, UW, Director,VeloCity Residence; Ken Coates, UW, Dean of Arts; PhilipHume, Apple Canada.

Alex Amariutei, VeloCity resident, engineering

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BUSINESS MONITOR

It has taken three years, but the voluntary citizens’ group,“Citizens for Better Gov-ernment” have published their “final report.” The group, with a steering commit-tee of 21 people fromWaterloo Region, explains its genesis in the report:“Citizens for Better Government came into being in 2005 after we found thatmany of our acquaintances shared a frustration with local government. CFBG grewquickly into a group of more than 200 concerned citizens from all seven munici-palities within Waterloo Region. Our shared purpose is to seek and recommenda more effective governance model that will improve our communities.”The CFBG has no official status or standing; its report is intended as a recom-mendation to municipal politicians and the government of Ontario. However, thecommittee states, “A single tier form of local government is CFBG’s preferred al-ternative.”The 54-page report slams the present, two-tier system of municipal government,arguing that there are many areas of overlap and inefficiency. It points specifi-cally to planning responsibilities, which lie at both lower level and regional level;overlap in water and sewage services; road systems that involve regional andlocal roadways; and a multiplicity of services ranging from fire protection to elec-trical power utilities.The report suggests several alternative solutions to the existing system which in-cludes the Region of Waterloo at the top level, and three city and four townshipgovernments at the lower level.The CFBG’s preference is the “one city model”, where all seven municipalitieswould become “a single new city.” The report suggests a “ward/community coun-cil structure” that would foster local community identity.

A compromise model would see a continuation of the current two-tier model,but withWoolwich,Waterloo and Kitchener amalgamated into one city, while Cam-bridge, Wellesley,Wilmot and North Dumfries “would remain, as today.”The third option suggests that two cities be created as single-tier governments:Kitchener, Waterloo, Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich amalgamated as one city,and Cambridge as the other. North Dumfries “may choose to join either.” The Re-gion would then be eliminated.The report is the result of three years of meetings, consultations, and thousandsof volunteer hours. However, no elected body has any stated responsibility to con-sider it, and it is not clear that there will be any action taken, or even further dis-cussion held, based on any of the recommendations by the CFBG.

CITIZENS GROUP FILES FINAL REPORT

• Only 16% of organizations have sur-veyed their older workers to collect in-formation regarding their retirementplans, according to the Human Re-sources Professionals Association.

• 26% of employers said they expect upto 20% of their workforce to retire inthe next five years; 15% of firms saidup to 30% of their staff will hit retire-ment age within five years; 8% ofcompanies said they expect up to40% of their workforce to retire dur-ing the coming five years.

• 14% of organizations said they feelfully prepared for "the coming talentshortage"; 23% of companies admit-ted to being "poorly prepared"; 60%of companies said they are only"somewhat prepared".

• According to the 2006 StatisticsCanada census data for Canada’sworkforce, about 15% of Canadiansare now 55 or older and, for the firsttime, half are over 40.

• 71% of CEOs surveyed said that tightcredit markets are affecting theirgrowth plans and 46% said they arechanging or reviewing their strategies,says Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

• Following a decline in July and asmall gain in August, employment in-creased by 107,000 in September2008, says StatsCan. Almost all ofthis increase was in part-time work(+97,000). The unemployment ratewas unchanged at 6.1%.

• Over the first nine months of 2008,employment increased 1.1%(+194,000), a slower pace of growthcompared with 1.7% (+275,000)during the same period last year. • Thenumber of private sector employeesrose by 56,000 in September, with

smaller gains in the self-employed(+30,000) and the public sector(+21,000).

• Employment in Ontario rose by52,000 in September, bringinggrowth so far in 2008 to 1.6%. De-spite these gains, the unemploymentrate edged up to 6.4%.

• Total sales of all commodities in retailstores in the second quarter of 2008reached $113.6 billion, up 3.4%over the second quarter of 2007.Thelargest year-over-year sales increasewas for automotive fuels, oils and ad-ditives (+22.0%). This was drivenmostly by a 17.8% increase in gaso-line prices according to the Con-sumer Price Index. Automotive fuelsaccounted for almost 12 cents ofevery dollar spent in retail stores inthe second quarter of 2008, aboutdouble what it was 10 years ago.

• In the Global Competitiveness Report2008-2009 released by the WorldEconomic Forum, (Canadian partner:Institute for Competitiveness & Pros-perity) Canada moved up from 13thin 2007 to 10th in 2008 on the“Global Competitiveness Index.”

• For the first time in more than eight-een months, Cambridge housingstarts exceeded starts in all otherKitchener Census Metropolitan Areamunicipalities, according to prelimi-nary data which Canada Mortgageand Housing Corporation releasedOctober 8, 2008. Construction beganon 250 homes in September, up 2%from the 245 units started last year.

• Ontario’s economic growth is ex-pected to stall in 2008, and improveonly marginally to 0.5% in 2009, ac-cording to RBC.

XQuarterly – www. xquarterly.ca

Five Municipalities (two tier) Model

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was the keynote speaker at a regional event entitled “InspiringWomen – The Experience” held in September at Bingemans. The event was hosted by WaterlooRegion Small Business Centre and TD Canada Trust. Sarah Ferguson is shown with Kathy Weiss,right, who is manager of the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre and chair of the InspiringWomen’s event committee.

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BUSINESS MONITOR

There is a dichotomy in our community: the people of Waterloo Region live in acommunity that is very healthy in a number of ways, but the individual citizens

may not share that healthy outlook, physically or socially. That’s the story in the2008 Waterloo Region Vital Signs report, issued in October by the Kitchener andWaterloo Community Foundation and the Cambridge & North Dumfries Commu-nity Foundation,The second annual Vital Signs report speaks of “a vibrant and flourishing com-

munity that has a few areas in need of monitoring”.As the report was released, Community Foundation leaders noted,“our progress

as a community: lower unemployment rates, safer streets, more waste diversion,and higher family incomes.” But the report strongly suggested that “there’s moreto the story than meets the casual eye... Obesity is on the rise and activity levelsare dropping. Many of our residents smoke, drink, and don’t eat a well balanceddiet. We also live in a place surrounded by cultural opportunities, yet we don’tregularly attend events or visit cultural establishments.And, learning continues tobe an area of concern for Waterloo Region. Last year’s Waterloo Region’s VitalSigns reported that less than 50% of our Region’s population held some form ofpost-secondary education and that we barely surpassed the minimum standardsfor English literacy. This year’s report found a significant amount of senior kinder-garten students are not prepared to start school and that a large percentage ofour grade three students are struggling to pass the Provincial Reading Standard.”“Vital Signs is a tool for community understanding, reflection, discussion, and

transformation,” says Rosemary Smith, CEO of The Kitchener and Waterloo Com-munity Foundation, and a columnist in Exchange. “We want it to help our nonprofit sector, businesses, governments, and other organizations and individuals

say: ‘Yes, we have accom-plished quite a bit together,but there are still areas wecan improve.We can be notonly a good, but a greatcommunity.’”Waterloo Region’s Vital

Signs is part of a nation-wide community foun-dation initiativecoordinated by Com-munity Foundations of Canada.This year, 15 other community foundations re-leased their own local Vital Signs report cards, including Guelphand Wellington’s first-ever report.Waterloo Region’s report highlights success and opportunity forWaterloo Region

on several fronts:• In measuring the success of our local economy, the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) sits at an estimated $21.5 billion.There has been an increase of almost41% in GDP from 1997 to 2006, the highest growth rate among Canada’s 27metropolitan areas.

• The median family income in Waterloo Region is $74,040 – higher than seenacross the province and country. The Region’s median family income has in-creased by almost 17% since 2001.

• At 29%,we have more tax filers declaring charitable donations than seen acrossthe country. Median donations have increased almost 43% from 1997.

• We are using 3% less water than the rest of the country. In 2004, the total av-erage daily water use in Waterloo Region was 240.4 litres per capita.

• Both our traffic and violent crime rates are well below the provincial and nationalaverages.

• In 2007, there were 27 high ozone days, up from 11 in 2006. During the 2001-2006 time period, our average was 20 days – one of the highest reported acrossthe country.

• At $30,215, the Region’s most recent immigrants with university degrees makequite a bit less than the $41,188 that all immigrant workers possessing univer-sity degrees earn and the $52,712 that Canadian-born workers possessing uni-versity degrees earn.

• Our obesity rate is close to 17% – higher than both the provincial and nationalaverages.

• Only 45% of our residents (12 and older) reported being at least moderatelyactive. This number is lower than both the provincial and national levels.

• Only 16.9% of our residents attend concerts and cultural opportunities. This ismuch lower the national average of 25.8%.

• While the number is on the rise and we are on par with the province, on aver-age 62.5% of our grade 3 students are not passing the Provincial Reading Stan-dard.

• 30% of our senior kindergarten students are not ready to start school – a num-ber higher than seen nation-wide.“The release of this year’sWaterloo Region’s Vital Signs report is both a celebra-

tion and a reality check,” says Jane Neath, Executive Director of the Cambridge andNorth Dumfries Community Foundation. “Our hope is that it will continue to raiseawareness of important issues and stimulate debate so that we can all work to-gether to improve the lives of our families, neighbours, and friends and makeWa-terloo Region an even better place to live, grow and work.”

HEALTHY COMMUNITY, UNHEALTHY PEOPLE?

The first snapshot of the wellnessand liveability of both the City of

Guelph and the County of Wellingtonwas released by The Guelph Commu-nity Foundation in October; officialssaid “the results were mixed”.“Vital Signs” is based on extensive

data gathering and discussion withabout 80 civic, non-profit and busi-ness leaders and a survey of almost700 local residents.“Vital Signs confirms what we already

knew, that Guelph & Wellington is agreat place to live, work and play,” saidCindy Lindsay, Executive Director of TheGuelph Community Foundation. “Italso highlights areas where citizensstrongly feel that improvements areneeded.”Successes outlined in the report re-

leased today show:• The median income of families livingin Guelph & Wellington was 9.7%higher than the provincial averageand up 15.4% since 2000.

• Guelph and Wellington County’srates of civic participation far exceedthe provincial average.

• In 2004, the average daily flow ofwater use was 216.4 litres percapita in the City of Guelph, a rate

16.8% below the provincial averageand a decline of 5.4% since 2001.However, said the report, “high me-

dian incomes and impressive rates ofcivic engagement or environmentalcommitment don’t offset the strugglesof some in our community.”• In Guelph and Wellington, 994 indi-viduals stayed at least one night inan emergency shelter in 2006, a42% increase in the number of shel-ter users over three years.

• 1,370 households were on the wait-ing list for social housing as of De-cember 31, 2007. In the City ofGuelph, the average wait time rangesfrom 3-9 years. In the County ofWellington the average wait timeranges from 2-5 years.

• Since 2006, domestic violence oc-currences have increased 6.4% inthe City of Guelph but decreased17.6% in the County of Wellington.

• In 2006, 28.3% of children in theCity of Guelph and 30.9% of childrenin the County of Wellington scored inthe bottom 10th percentile of theEarly Development Instrument thatmeasures readiness to learn. In com-parison, 26.8% of children in Ontarioscored in this “vulnerable” range.

Guelph and Wellington’s first quality oflife report identifies concerns

Reflecting on the results, Lindsaysaid: “This broad community consulta-tion and data gathering project estab-lishes a baseline so that in the yearsto come we can measure the impactof public, corporate and individual ac-tions. The old saying ‘You measurewhat you treasure’ certainly applieshere since quality of life in Guelph andWellington is invaluable.”The Guelph Community Foundation is

an independent, volunteer-driven char-itable foundation whose purpose is toprovide leadership in promoting com-

munity philanthropy and enhance thequality of life for the citizens of Guelphand Wellington. The Foundation poolsthe charitable gifts of many donors intopermanent, income-earning endow-ments.Income from the endowments sup-

ports a wide range of charitable pro-grams and activities. The Foundationcurrently has $6.4 Million in endowedfunds and since its inception just 8years ago has disbursed over $1 Mil-lion in grants to community organiza-tions.

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John Keating circles the table in his office the same way a Com Dev satellite orbits the planetEarth. Except the satellite should be more predictable in its movements. Keating, on the otherhand, sits at the table, jumps up to illustrate a point on his beloved white board, heads toward

a shelving unit to produce some space-age hardware, rushes over to his desktop computer to callup an image... and then strides to the door, to tell his assistant that his computer isn’t workingright, so can we borrow hers?

Keating is clearly a visionary CEO, eager to see his company to go where it has not gonebefore. But he’s also pragmatic, and spends a lot of time explaining how everything he hopes todo is firmly anchored in Com Dev’s history and accomplishments since the Cambridge-basedcompany was founded, in 1974.

More than three decadesA lot has happened since that date. Com Dev was founded, according to company literature,

“to supply microwave equipment to the emerging space industry.” The company’s core businessis described simply as “space engineering”.

Today, that continues to be true, but Com Dev has grown to be a global company, with about1,200 employees, with customers in commercial, civil and military sectors, internationally, andwith facilities in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

BY PAUL KNOWLES

Com Dev will expand its reach in aerospace industry

ABOVE AND BEYOND


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MOVER & SHAKER

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When companies are looking forpotential directors to fill positions on

their corporate board, one of the criteriais that the nominee have experience inthe company’s specific field. When thatcompany is Cambridge’s Com Dev, the

challenge isobvious – ComDev builds com-ponents forsatellites andnow, in a newventure, com-plete nano-satel-lites and micro-satellites.Where do you

find someonewith “hands-onexperience”? Theobvious answeris “Space”, andthat is just whatCom Dev didwhen it invitedJim Adamson tojoin the corpor-

ate board; he came aboard a year ago.Adamson is a retired astronaut who

also brings significant business experi-ence in the field. But the most intriguingelement of his resumé is certainly thetime he spent in space, logging over 334hours during two Space Shuttle mis-sions. He’s an American whose summer

home is on one of the “ThousandIslands” east of Kingston; in the wintermonths, he lives in Virginia.Adamson told Exchange that he has

been intrigued by the space programsince he was a freshman in high school,in 1959: “I remember the day precisely. Iwas in Algebra class. They stopped allthe classes and piped the launch of theMercury spacecraft through the PA sys-tem.” And that set the direction forAdamson’s unusual career.“That was so impressive to me – a

farm boy from the Finger Lakes district ofNew York state... I wanted to get into thespace program .”He found the way, though a 23-year

career in the US Army, which took him toViet Nam, eventually into a career as atest pilot (“I flew everything from bal-loons to gliders to jets”) and then toNASA, where he was involved in man-agement, operations and R&D, finallyrealizing his dream as a member of twoSpace Shuttle crews.Adamson was mission-ready when

the Challenger tragedy occurred, January25, 1986. NASA suspended all scheduledflights; Adamson finally went into spaceon Aug. 8, 1989, the first flight of theColumbia after the Challenger accident.In 1991, he was on the nine-day Atlantismission that included the launching of aworld record-sized satellite.Asked about his specific role on the

missions, he abandons NASA languagefor a more accessible term: “I wasSpock... the systems guy.”The new Com Dev Director insists that

he – like his astronaut colleagues – are“not daredevils... we mitigate the risks.”That’s not to dismiss the dangers – onone mission, there was a small electricalfire on the shuttle, and “fire on a space-craft is a very, very scary thing... a coupleof us dove on it and actually put it outwith our hands.”Asked about the highlights of space

flight, Adamson answers in three seg-ments. He describes the ascent into orbitas “an incredibly powerful event... thereis no doubt in your mind that you’releaving town in a hurry and you can’t doa thing about it.”The next stage, he says, is “equally

awesome... stark serenity... you unbucklefrom your seat and float around like Tin-kerbell in the capsule.”The final stage is re-entry, “a very,

very smooth ride” where the drama is inthe external heat – “it’s like riding insidea neon sign.” That danger became realityin the second Shuttle tragedy, when theColumbia was destroyed during re-entry.Adamson is adept at describing his

experiences on a shuttle in orbit. Hetalks of the drama of circling the earthevery hour and a half, and of “wonder-ment” of “seeing the planet as a wholeand then looking out another window

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCENewest Com Dev director has launched satellites from the space shuttle

MOVER & SHAKER

Jim Adamson:weightless and

awestruck onboard the Shuttle

Legendary greats such asEames, Nelson, Girard

and Noguchi

Modern classics thatdefined 20th century

design

Come and see theauthentic products that

defy time



British-born Keating has been part ofCom Dev for 16 years, joining in 1992 aspart of the management team, and hold-ing positions including President of ComDev Wireless (1998), President of ComDev Space (1999) and Chief Operatingofficer (2001).He was appointed CEO in 2002, suc-

ceeding Keith Ainsworth, who continuesto serve as Chair of the Board.Keating believes he has seen the

future, not only for his company, but forCanadian business in general. The key, heargues, is to emphasize the knowledge-based economy, and to focus on areas ofspecific expertise in Canada. One ofthose, he contends, is the aerospaceindustry. “From a manufacturing perspec-tive,” he says, “we’re seeing significantdeterioration in manufacturing jobs in

Canada, in general.” The causes are“overseas competition and the highly val-ued Canadian dollar.”This is unlikely to change, he believes.

“If somebody somewhere can hire labourat $3 to $5 an hour, with less environ-mentally controlled restrictions,” they’rea major challenge to manufacturers. Theanswer? Keating contends it is to foster ahighly trained knowledge economy. AndCanada “has the talent to do it.” He hasan obvious bias, but the facts seem tosupport his contention that “Aerospace isa place I’d be focusing on... there is achance that sectors like aerospace... cancompete in the 21st century.”He argues that his industry has specific

advantages as a Canadian enterprise. Forinstance, because aerospace is deemedto be of strategic importance to nationalsecurity, aerospace is exempt from theNorth American Free Trade Agreement.Canada cannot find itself dependent onChina, for example, for systems ofnational defence.Such conditions create an opportunity,

says Keating, although they simply openthe door a crack, on a Canadian basis...and, for a company like Com Dev with anAmerican arm, there is also potential inthe U.S. But that only relates to projectswith a national security element. In thecommercial sector, international competi-tion is fierce. “There is nothing easy aboutwhat we do,” says Keating. “We are com-peting with people who have a great dealof assistance from their national govern-ments.”

Success in spaceEven in such a competitive environ-

ment, he says, “Aerospace in Canada hasbeen quite successful.” There is no betterexample than Com Dev, which can boastof some remarkable statistics. Com Devtechnology has been used on more than650 spacecraft, which include 80% of allcommercial communications satellitesthat have ever been launched.With that kind of market dominance,

where does a company like Com Dev gonext? The answer comes in severalstages. Geographically, the company hasexpanded to include international opera-tions; they’ve had a U.K. operation for 20years, and Com Dev USA now occupiesnew quarters in El Segundo, California,and has a staff of 100. In late Septemberof this year, the company announced adeal to supply passive microwave com-ponents for a U.S. government civil spaceprogram. The deal, when complete, is

valued at over $18 million. It’s the firstsuch contact since Com Dev moved intoits California quarters. Dan White is Pres-ident of Com Dev USA. He said, “Thisaward marks a key milestone for ourcompany. Our customer has thoroughlyassessed our capabilities and has confi-

dence in our long-term stability andreadiness to successfully complete a proj-ect of this scale. With a strong pipeline ofopportunities ahead, we believe we arewell positioned to establish ourselves asthe leading domestic supplier of passivemicrowave equipment for the govern-ment space market.”

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Com Dev technology has been used on more than 650

spacecraft, which include 80% ofall commercial communicationssatellites that have ever been

launched.

and seeing the deepness of space.That did it for me.”He came home with a complex set

of emotions about the state of envi-ronmentally-challenged earth.“There’s a contradiction betweenfragility and robustness,” he says.“You look at this little ball... in themiddle of nothing... with all this bur-geoning life on it. It was an honourand a privilege to be one of the luckyfew to see it that way. It makes youfeel very spiritual.”The former astronaut was pleased

to be invited to join the Com Devboard. He says the company is verywell known within the aerospaceindustry, and is working with “prod-ucts I understand... there is a mutualaffinity.”He says the relative smallness of

the company makes it especiallyattractive: “The people are in an operational

mode of working together... every-body knows everybody, which is awonderful stage in a company’sgrowth. Com Dev works very much asa community.”He believes the company is located

in an ideal community. “It’s terrific.You have these companies that arehigh tech, all bundled together.”His final word on his involvement

with Com Dev? “I love it.”

MOVER & SHAKER



That’s at least part of the geographicanswer to the growth question. But CEOKeating has another answer, one thatreaches well beyond national boundariesand into space itself.

This is when he moves to the whiteboard, and starts drawing charts andgraphs. Keating wants to make the pointthat Com Dev’s growth strategies aredirectly connected to the company’s cur-rent expertise, its known products, and itscore customers. As Com Dev stretches itsboundaries in terms of service and prod-uct, Keating will insure that it builds onwhat it knows, and what it is best at.

As they develop new products andnew customers, he says, “we like to havestuff that’s adjacent” to what they alreadydo. He uses phrases like “incrementingthe technology”, “continually upgrading,”and “expanding the product portfolio.”

He insists that Com Dev expansionobjectives include “improving existingproducts so they’re better,” and “develop-ing new products related to existingones.”

You might start to wonder why hespends so much effort establishing thecautious approach Com Dev will take togrowth. But as he unveils his vision forgrowth, it all starts to make sense.

Climbing the value chainBecause Keating’s plan for his compa-

ny involves moving several steps up theaerospace “value chain”, as he calls it.Until now, Com Dev has always builtcomponents for someone else’s satellites– for 80% of all commercial satellites, asnoted above. “We’re very successful at

that,” says Keating. “In our core areas, weare the dominant supplier in the world.”In some key sectors, Com Dev holds 60%of the market, more than everyone elsecombined, globally.

Com Dev’s customers tend to be majoraerospace players, companies and coun-tries that send large, complex satellitesinto space. Keating has no intention ofcompeting with his customers – thatcould jeopardize his customerbase.

But he believes he hasidentified a niche outside theinterest of those large customers, a placewhere Com Dev can move up the “valuechain” from being a supplier of compo-nents to building and launching satellites,and even to becoming the company thatowns those satellites and markets theservice to customers.

That’s a long way up the value chainfrom being a supplier of components.

The key to this vision, saysKeating is size. Com Dev plans to“make smaller satellites, micro- andnano-satellites.” In fact, Com Devhas already built and launched a pro-totype nano-satellite, which is now inorbit, transmitting information back toearth. “We’ve built and launched a nano-satellite,” he says, “and we will build andlaunch micro-satellites.”


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MOVER & SHAKER

A Com Dev prototype nano-satellite (right) is currently map-ping the location of all ships in the waters of the earth.


Micro-satellites are larger than thelunch-box sized nano-satellites, weighing100 or 150 kilograms. In relative terms,says Keating, these smaller spacecraft“are very cheap – $10 million to $15 mil-

lion each. We have the technical capacityand the financial horsepower to makestuff like that.”The time is right, he says, on several

fronts. “Technology has been so minia-turized that you can get decent func-tionality in a micro-satellite.” And appli-cations abound for the smaller space-craft. Keating says that it is not yet clearwhether Com Dev will build small satel-lites for clients, or operate the satellitesitself... or both. He suggests that theCanadian government “might be interest-ed in buying small spacecraft from ComDev.”

He adds, “We’ve set up a mission

group to travel around the world, saying,“who’s got a problem that can be solvedwith micro-satellites?” An intriguing arrayof applications has appeared, from moni-toring water quality in Australia, to meas-

uring greenhouse gas to mapping defor-estation to identifying the location ofevery ship on the earth.

All these are possible with micro-satel-lites – or more precisely, “constellations”of six or so micro-satellites – becausethey circle the earth in an entirely differ-ent mode than most larger satellites. Thelarge spacecraft are in “geosynchronisticorbit”, 36,000 km into space, circling theworld in 24 hours, maintaining their loca-tion over a specific point on the earth.

Small satellites are launched into“lower earth orbit,” about 600 to 700 nau-tical miles above the earth, the same alti-tude as the international space station.

They circle the globe every 90 minutes,and eventually pass over every point onthe earth. A constellation of satellites canefficiently map “the whole earth” in a rel-atively short period of time.

Spacecraft in lower earth orbit face“definite challenges,” says Keating,including “typically short mission times.”But the appropriate applications fit thatcriteria, since “scientific missions are typ-ically short term in duration.”

Satellite landlord?Com Dev is beginning to market its

smaller satellite programs, talking toprospective clients, especially govern-ments. But Keating also gets excitedabout the potential for his company tomaintain ownership and sell services.

That’s when he moves to the comput-er, to show a clip of what is already tak-

MOVER & SHAKER

The James Webb telescope has been described as thesuccessor to the well-known Hubble telescope. Keating describes Com Dev’s contribution as

“one of the most critical components.”



MOVER & SHAKER


ing place, as Com Dev’s first nano-satel-lite transmits visual information aboutthe location of every ship in the waters ofthe world.No one else is doing this, and the

implications are quickly obvious. Such aservice would aid search and rescueoperations; it would also allow nations tospot potentially hostile vessels approach-ing national waters.On a national level, he poses the ques-

tion, “Wouldn’t the Canadian governmenthave an interest in submarines passingthrough the North West passage?” That

would be possible if micro-satellites weremonitoring sound sensors in the ArcticOcean.Keating notes that there is potential for

more than one client can use the multiplefunctions of a small satellite, since theywould incorporate “low data transpon-ders” that are adaptable for “hundreds ofapplications” with literally global poten-tial. For example, he points out that satel-lites could be used to find any automobileon the earth, if the vehicle were equippedthe the appropriate transponder. Thatwould enable police to locate stolen vehi-

cles; in fact, he says, you would know if ithad been shipped to a country such as,say, Bahrain ... although Keating admitswith a grin that he is unsure what recov-ery process could then ensue. Transport-ing the car by beaming it up is not part ofCom Dev’s current technology.

Revenues, profits are upWhile Keating and company are

enthusiastic about the immediate future,the CEO is also delighted with the currentstate of his corporation. He points outthat revenues in 2008 are projected to be20% higher than in the previous fiscalyear, and that profits are running at 70%higher than last year at this time.Third quarter results, announced in

September, showed quarterly revenue of$51.5 million, an increase of 20% over the$42.9 million recorded in Q3 2007, andnet income of $4.3 million, or $0.06 pershare, compared to $2.5 million, or $0.04per share, in the same period in 2007.

The report also noted that new orderswon in the third quarter were $95 mil-lion, compared to $50 million a year ear-lier and $42 million in the second quarterof fiscal 2008.Commenting on those figures, Keating

said: “Margins continued to edgeupwards, and we made significantimprovements in our operating expenses.In what remains a very active market forsatellite program awards, our ongoingsuccess at winning new business led torecord highs in both new orders andbacklog in the quarter. Based on our per-formance to date and a robust pipeline ofbusiness, we are increasing our fiscal2008 revenue guidance to growth inexcess of 20%.”Com Dev actually includes four com-

panies: Com Dev International Products,based at the company's headquarters inCambridge, whose primary focus is thedesign and production of spaceflighthardware for the commercial satcommarket; Com Dev USA (CDU), primarilyserving the US military space market;Com Dev Canada, located in Ottawa, pri-

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marily focused on the Canadian civilspace market; and Com Dev Europe,located in Aylesbury, UK focused onEuropean Space Agency activities andtechnology development.

Keating argues that, in addition tooperating successful aerospace business-es and developing cutting-edge applica-tions, all of Com Dev’s arms are alsofocused on another aspect of their mis-sion statement. “We already have writteninto our mission statement that we’rehere to make the world a better place,”he says. “Clearly, building Search andRescue transponders make the world abetter place.” So, too, he argues is pro-viding countries – starting with Canada –with the tools to protect their bordersfalls into that category, as well.

One new project that will contribute tomaking the universe a better – or at least,better understood – place is the JamesWebb Space Telescope. Com Dev is sup-plying a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS)designed to keep the telescope pointedwith a precision of greater than one mil-lionth of one degree.

The James Webb telescope has beendescribed as the successor to the well-known Hubble telescope. Keatingdescribes Com Dev’s contribution as “oneof the most critical components.”Because of the Canadian involvement,including Com Dev, Canadian scientistswill be allotted 5% of the time availableon the new telescope.

John Keating says, with pride, that“this is part of Canada’s contribution tounderstanding how the universe gotstarted.” A corporate CEO could not havea grander vision than that.

John Keating is a man with a cosmic vision

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creatingthe future, one innovationatatime · 2011. 4. 14. · j ohn keating circles the table in...

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