Digital Main Street

Recognizing the growing need to support main street businesses in adapting to the digital economy, Chris led the creation of Digital Main Street—a flagship program designed to accelerate technology adoption and digital literacy across local business communities.

The program combined hands-on support with accessible tools and training, offering:

• A web-based platform to assess digital readiness and provide customized recommendations;

• A Digital Service Squad that worked directly with entrepreneurs to implement foundational technologies like Google Business Profiles;

• A suite of training resources to build digital skills and confidence among small business owners.

Backed by public and private sector partners—including Yellow Pages, Mastercard, Rogers, Google, Shopify, Microsoft, and Canada Post—Digital Main Street scaled rapidly and became a nationally recognized model for supporting digital transformation on main streets.

Digital Main Street was funded by a number of key partners, including Yellow Pages, Mastercard, Rogers, Google, Shopify, Microsoft and Canada Post.

StartUp HERE Toronto

Bringing together key stakeholders from Toronto's innovation community, Chris led the development of the StartUp HERE Toronto brand and web platform as way to better tell the story of Toronto's innovation community.

To strengthen Toronto’s position as a global innovation hub, Chris led the development of StartUp HERE Toronto—a place-branding initiative and digital platform designed to elevate the city’s entrepreneurship story and connect innovators to the resources they need to grow.

Built in collaboration with leading ecosystem partners like MaRS and the DMZ, the platform served as a central hub for Toronto’s innovation community—curating news, events, and success stories while providing a searchable directory of business supports including incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces.

In addition to aggregating resources, StartUp HERE Toronto produced original editorial content profiling local entrepreneurs and showcasing why Toronto is one of the world’s best places to start and scale a business.

Food Starter

To support Toronto’s growing but under-served food entrepreneurship sector, Chris led the development and launch of Food Starter—Ontario’s first dedicated food business incubator.

Responding to industry barriers such as high production costs, limited access to food-grade space, and complex regulatory requirements, Food Starter offered early-stage companies a 20,000 sq. ft. facility equipped with shared commercial-grade equipment. The incubator specialized in baking, hot and cold fill, and culturally diverse food products, and provided wraparound training, mentorship, and commercialization support to help food entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

Chris secured public and private funding for the initiative, oversaw facility construction, established the not-for-profit operating model and board of directors, and led the team through launch and early operations.

Chris' role in the project included securing funding, managing the construction of the facility, developing a not-for-profit and board of directors, hiring staff and overseeing the launch of the facility and its programming.

Energy Leaders Consortium

To drive collaborative climate action within Canada’s largest employment zone, Chris launched the Energy Leaders Consortium—a network of businesses surrounding Toronto Pearson committed to reducing their energy consumption and environmental impact.

With support from external funding partners, Chris led the design and rollout of a structured program that provided participating companies with tailored work plans, expert mentorship, and access to energy monitoring tools. Through regular training and peer exchange, businesses collaborated to identify efficiency opportunities, share best practices, and accelerate collective progress.

Founding members included major employers such as Bayer, Pratt and Whitney, Magellan Aerospace, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and Weston Bakeries. In its first year alone, the consortium achieved a collective energy reduction of 11.1 eGWh—translating to $1.15 million in cost savings across member organizations.

Pearson Eco-Business Zone Materials Exchange Program

As part of the Partners in Project Green strategy, Chris led the development of the Materials Exchange Program—an initiative designed to help businesses around Toronto Pearson identify opportunities to transform waste into usable feedstock, advancing both sustainability and industrial innovation.

To inform the program’s design, Chris conducted a global scan of successful materials exchange models—analyzing the economic and policy conditions that supported scale and adoption. Building on these insights, he developed a business model tailored to the Pearson employment zone and secured funding to move the initiative forward.

The program continues to operate as a practical tool for companies looking to reduce disposal costs, improve resource efficiency, and explore circular economy opportunities within their supply chains.