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 What's a referee to do when his or her whistle won't sound? The centuries-old design of the pea whistle leads to numerous problems. If you blow too hard, no sound comes out; if the pea gets wet, frozen or dirty, it can get stuck and lose efficiency. That's why in 1990, the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, National College Athletic Association, National Football League, Arena Football League and Canadian Football League all dubbed the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle as the whistle of choice. Who invented the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle? None other than Dr. Ron Foxcroft, logistics entrepreneur and former officiator for the NCAA Division 1 and for the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Basketball Game. He also happens to be a keynote speaker at IEDC 2017 Annual Conference in Toronto! Check out a bit of his bio below.
Keynote Speaker Spotlight:
 Dr. Ron Foxcroft
Chairman, Founder & CEO
Fox 40 International Inc.
Hamilton, ON, Canada
Dr. Ron Foxcroft is a logistics entrepreneur. Starting in 1982, he built Fluke Transportation from 3 trucks to 176 trucks and 475 trailers. Beginning with 250,000 square feet of warehousing space Fluke grew to 1.3 million square feet. He is Chair of the Hamilton John C Munro Airport the largest packaging freight airport in Canada. He serves on many boards throughout the world. Ron is the Inventor of the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle which is now sold in 140 countries and is sanctioned by almost all major sports worldwide. Fox 40, a Canadian company, proudly dominates the world-wide sport and safety whistle industry. See full bio.
Check out some other speakers who are experts in entrepreneurship:
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Amy Clickner, CEcD, CFRM
CEO
Lake Superior Community Partnership
Marquette, MI
See bio |
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Carlos Delgado
Equitable Economic Development Fellowship Program Manager
National League of Cities I Rose Center
Washington, DC
See bio |
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Carol Kraus Lauffer
Principal
Business Cluster Development
Palo Alto, CA
See bio
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Penny Lewandowski
Vice President, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Direction
Edward Lowe Foundation
Cassopoils, MI
See bio
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Tammie Sweet
Director
GrowFL
Orlando, FL
See bio
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And see a taste of the content that will delve into how you can support startups like Fox 40 International in your community:
Don't Go: What to Do When Your Start-Ups are Poached
Date: Sunday, September 17
Time: 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
It is a blessing and a curse to have highly successful start-ups in your community. There is a sense of pride of what you have grown but then suddenly companies and other communities are looking to steal away your treasure. This session will look at some very entrepreneurial communities that know what it is like to have their brightest new businesses lured away from home. Economic developers will share techniques for either retaining the businesses or share how they know it is time to let them go.
What you'll learn:
- Selling the amenities of your community when financing is luring start-ups elsewhere
- How to retain connections and reap benefits from start-ups that fly the coop
- Bringing the finances and resources to your community that enable start-ups to stay and grow
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Round Robin
Date: Tuesday, September 19
Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
This Round Robin session will allow attendees to visit with each case study for intimate 20 minutes conversations. Background information on each case study will be provided to attendees in advance so that they can familiarize themselves with the case studies and come to the Round Robin prepared to ask detailed questions. After 20 minutes, each group of attendees will then meet with a case study until they have visited will all case studies in 90 minutes.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Educational Tours Spotlight:
 DMZ Incubator at Ryerson University
Date: Tuesday, September 19
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Price: $55 USD
DMZ, located in the heart of Toronto and near the vibrant Yonge Dundas Square, is a leading business incubator for tech startups in Canada. The incubator helps startups build great businesses by connecting them with customers, capital, experts and a community of entrepreneurs and influencers. The DMZ is ranked the leading university-based incubator in North America and third in the world by UBI Global. The ranking recognizes its commitment to fueling innovation in Canada and the work to foster a vibrant startup community with unparalleled networks and programs that support early-stage entrepreneurs. Since 2010, DMZ has have helped fuel, grow and graduate over 266 startups. The startups have raised $280 million in seed funding and have fostered the creation of more than 2,500 jobs.
 MaRS
Date: Tuesday, September 19
Time: 2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Price: $55 USD
MaRS brings together educators, researchers, social scientists, entrepreneurs and business experts under one roof. Founded by civic leaders, it is more than a building. MaRS is a leader in the trend toward urban innovation districts, which allows entrepreneurs access to corporations, investors, mentors, university institutions and labs to test their concepts. As the Toronto Discovery District's commercialization hub, MaRS gives entrepreneurs what they need most: a home with access to networks and capital. This community helps keep talent in the city, and supplies established businesses and institutions with a steady stream of creativity. MaRS is known for creating a vanguard of entrepreneurs working to improve society for future generations and making a difference beyond Ontario and Canada's borders.
See the full program.
Don't wait till the last minute. Spaces will go fast. Register today and book your room now to stay at the Annual Conference headquarters hotel:
 Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9
IEDC Room Rate: $249 CAD single/double
Group Rate Cutoff: Friday, August 25, 2017
Register now
Book your room now
Other important dates:
Conference Dates: September 17-20, 2017
Early Bird Registration Rate Cutoff: June 30, 2017
Pre-Conference Training Course:
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This highly interactive course lets participants work in small teams to help understand the complexity of strategic planning and its challenges. Economic developers must build consensus among board members, stakeholders and the community as a whole, creating a unified vision for the future. Learn techniques to build consensus among stakeholders who represent different values and interests. Also, participants will learn the quantitative techniques used to better understand their community including: location quotients, shift share, input-output and cluster analyses.
Course Highlights:
- Stakeholder analysis, structuring participation, planning fundamentals
- Consensus building, group facilitation and conflict
- Defining geography, competitive advantage and SWOT
- Determining vision, mission, goals and objectives
See them all
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Instructors:
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Eric McSweeney, CEcD, EcD(F), CCIM, ALC
President
McSweeney & Associates
See bio |
Jon Roberts
Principal
TIP Strategies, Inc.
See bio |
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Anne Roise, CEcD MCP
Instructor, Urban Studies & Planning
Savannah State University
See bio |
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Accommodations/Training Location:
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9
IEDC Room Rate: $249 single/double
Group Rate Cutoff: Friday, August 25, 2017
Hear from influential and inspiring speakers at Annual Conference like Dr. Ron Foxcroft, inventor of the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle. All in the heart of downtown Toronto. Register by July 14 to save.
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