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Windsor is home to Windsor Salt Company - organized in 1892 and one of two salt mines in Ontario.
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NewsThis section will keep you updated on important business news stories in the Windsor-Essex Region, named Best Small City for Investment by FDI Magazine. Eco Camper Wows Dragons' DenMonday, Mar. 1, 2010
A two-person camper pulled by a bike beat out two other products Friday to win Windsor's version of the Dragons' Den that included the TV show's judge Arlene Dickinson. "Definitely excited," Tim Treleaven said Friday at Caesars Windsor after winning $10,000 of in-kind services from KPMG and Generator Design. The 45-year-old Canadian Salt Company worker got the idea for his camper eight years ago when he noticed cyclists overcome with gear. The carrier that is pulled behind a bike pops out into a solar-powered camper with interior lights, a DVD player and a cooling fan. He introduced the Escape to the judges and the public for the first time Friday at the Windsor-Essex's Dragons' Den Technology Competition. He told a panel of five judges including Dickinson that it could be used for camping or just for day trips to a festival or park. He said he could sell them for about $2,300 at first with the hope of lowering that price as production increases or they could be rented out at parks or spots such as Pelee Island. "There is nothing like this," Treleaven told the judges of his camper that he's spent about $7,500 designing and getting patents. Judges seemed to like the camper but Dickinson said he needed a business plan. "You need to figure out how you're going to make money out of this," she said. Treleaven said the day was a great marketing event and he's hoping the win will help him get his bicycle camper to market. He beat out Bon Jovan Smart Start, software to teach children from nine months to five years old computer skills, and Farmer's Biofuels Ltd., a plan to turn leftovers from farm crops into ethanol right on the farm. More than 250 people attended the one-day marketing event and competition put on by Softech Alliance Network, an association of 80 companies that helps growth of technology in Southwestern Ontario. Executive director Theo Rallis said the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Windsor and Friday's event helped entrepreneurs meet with potential investors, lawyers, accountants and government officials. He said Windsor's manufacturing sector uses technology that can be applied to other industries such as green energy and aerospace. "There's so much talent in this city." Dickinson, the show's marketing expert and only female judge, told her story of growing up poor to becoming owner and CEO of Venture Communications. She told the crowd she came from South Africa when she was about six with her parents. She said they landed in Canada with $10 and a clunker car and started to drive from Halifax to Edmonton. When the car broke down in Calgary at a car dealership, she said her dad told her mom they needed to trade her diamond ring, cut by her father, to get another car. Dickinson said she will never forget her mother reluctantly taking the ring off her finger. "She was willing to sacrifice everything she had," Dickinson said. "Sometimes you have to do things that seem impossible in order to go ahead." She told the entrepreneurs to see potential instead of problems, have confidence in themselves and not compare themselves to others. The producers of CBC's Dragons' Den are in Windsor Monday, March 8, for auditions. Article Credit: |
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