Light Manufacturing Incubator @ Dufferin and Queen

Looking to support the next generation of Toronto manufacturers, Chris worked to establish a light manufacturing incubator to assist early-stage manufacturers in the commercialization of their products.

Due to open in 2020, the planned manufacturing incubator will be hosted in the first mixed-use residential and manufacturing building in North America. With the first five floors of the residential building being set aside for manufacturing, with the remaining floors will feature residential rentals. Overall, the development represents an innovation in creating and maintaining space for manufacturing in an urban area.

The planned manufacturing incubator will take up the first two floors of the building, while the remaining three floors will be available to manufacturers who have graduated from the incubator or are interested in utilizing its resources.

Digital Main Street Wifi Toolkit

Looking to support the transformation of main street, Chris led a project to develop a wifi toolkit for Business Improvement Areas aimed at helping them understand and streamline the implementation of wireless networks in their neighbourhoods.

Small Business Taxation - Discussion Paper

Building on the Deputy-Mayor's Roundtable on Small Business held in 2014, Chris managed the Small Business Council Advisory Body in 2015 and worked with the group to develop a discussion paper on the tax issues facing small businesses in Toronto.

With a strong focus on main street businesses, the Small Business Taxation Discussion Paper identifies the three main tax issues facing small businesses in Toronto; while also profiling local small business owners and how these issues impact their operations.

The purpose of the discussion paper was to humanize the financial challenges that businesses on Toronto's main street feel.

To view the discussion paper visit here.

Client Relationship Management System Development and Deployment

Overseeing the City of Toronto's Small Business Centres, Chris led the development of a client relationship management system using Salesforce to better manage and track the 28,000 clients the City's three centres serve each year.

From developing the user requirements, selecting the technology, overseeing developers and completing some development himself, Chris led all aspects of modifying Salesforce for the use of 12 staff in the City's Small Business Centres.

Leading the deployment of the platform, Chris provided training to his staff and monitored results from the platform. One year after deployment, the savings in staff time were identified to be over $150,000 - while increasing the ability of staff to better engage, track and support entrepreneurs accessing City resources.

Tommy Thompson Park Restoration with Coca-Cola

Working with Coca-Cola and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) teams, Chris developed a proposal to assist Coca-Cola in reaching its water neutrality goal by creating a nine-hectare coastal wetland at Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit.

Chris' role in the project was to engage Coca-Cola and work with TRCA's technical staff to apply Coca-Cola's water neutrality methodology to restoration projects within the Greater Toronto Area. With projects identified and potential water savings calculated, Chris pitched potential projects to the Coca-Cola team.

Ultimately, Coca-Cola decided to invest $500,000 in the restoration of the Tommy Thompson Park coastal wetland.