Innovation Leaders

After creating and selling these items for some 35 years, the people at Algonquin have learned what is possible. They turn this knowledge into highly prized products, regularly filing patents on their work. The company currently employs around 300 people in facilities spread between three towns located in central Ontario's Muskoka region.

Algonquin's business has expanded dramatically in the last 10 years, from $7 million in annual sales to more than $60 million in 2002. In fact, convoys of trucks carrying company goods now routinely travel from Muskoka to a General Motors plant in northern Mexico.

And such growth is continuing. This fall, Algonquin began work on a chrome tubular step for GM's Hummer H2, a version dedicated to rough, off-road driving. The contract is one of four that are expected to generate an additional 50 jobs at Algonquin, and perhaps even more with the company's many suppliers across Ontario.

Samson Ling, Algonquin's Vice-President of Business Development, attributes this success to an application of imagination and innovation. This process is accelerated through what he describes as a "martini glass" system - a wide intake of ideas at the top, narrowing to the few best ideas at the bottom. This approach ensures that worthwhile prospects make it to the marketplace as quickly as possible.

On the latest Nissan Quest minivan, for example, Algonquin offers a light emitting diode array that highlights the outside edge of the running board. These LEDs last up to 10 times longer than conventional light bulbs, as well as better withstanding rough treatment and drawing less current. Ling regards the company's adaptation of this new technology as typical of the kind of creativity that is essential to thriving in the crowded, competitive automotive world.

"A critical core value is to take calculated risks in an atmosphere that's open to new ideas," he says. "It's that strong commitment to innovation that has enabled this company to diversify both product lines and customers. It helped us survive the recession, and it is leading the way to a very exciting and prosperous future."

Algonquin shares this core value with the federal Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). An initiative of the National Research Council, Canada's foremost research and development agency, IRAP works closely with small and medium-sized enterprises, helping them grow their businesses, increase their competitiveness, and enhance their impact in the marketplace.

NRC-IRAP has teamed up with Algonquin on various projects since 1990, helping the company perfect new products and techniques, as well as providing access to research and development expertise available at National Research Council facilities. This interaction has contributed to the company's progress in handling new materials, shipping methods, and design strategies.

"IRAP has been a valuable partner for some of the key steps we have taken," says Ling. "They've helped us over some technical hurdles, and they've helped us position ourselves in the market. They're a big part of why you'll find our products on vehicles all over the world."

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