Innovation Central Society (ICS) announced today the appointment of Mr. Matt Hutcheon as Executive Director.

“We are very excited to have Matt lead the organization.” said Sean Simmons, Board Chair. “He has more than 20 years experience in sharing his expertise with businesses, organizations and leaders, and Matt has already spearheaded a new strategic plan for Innovation Central Society, envisioning a new focus and direction for the organization which includes the operation of the new Hubspace. He has demonstrated a clear passion for the organization while serving as Program Manager for the last 7 months.”

Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Hutcheon moved to Prince George in May 2014. After relocating to Prince George, Matt became the Director, Northern BC for Conterra Advisory Services, providing financial management services to businesses and First Nations in B.C..

His previous experience includes being CEO of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce, where he built strong working relationships with Chamber partners, community leaders, and politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government.

“I am thrilled to be able to take on this role with Innovation Central” said Hutcheon.  “Working with it’s clients and partners over the past number of months has left me inspired to assist the many innovators and creators we have in the region to implement and commercialize their ideas.  They will play an important part in diversifying and growing the economy in northern BC.”

A graduate of Queen’s University’s Bachelor of Commerce program, Matt owned and operated Vista Enterprises for eighteen years, a bookkeeping and financial consultancy that assisted clients with implementing and utilizing financial-based decision-making tools and metrics, often advising on strategy and operations in interpreting the results with the business owners.  He worked with a number of the companies formed to commercialize innovations from Queen’s University, including biomedical, software development and pharmaceutical companies.

Hutcheon will officially assume his new role on April 4, 2016.

 

ABOUT INNOVATION CENTRAL SOCIETY

Innovation Central Society (ICS) is a non-profit organization that serves the North Central region of British Columbia, and is a BCIC Acceleration Network partner. The organization proudly operates with support from British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC), National Research Council (NRC-IRAP), Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT).

The mandate of ICS is to support startup ventures and develop entrepreneurs to accelerate technology commercialization by delivering target programs as well as connecting to networks, advisors & resources.  Innovation Central Society is also the organization building the Hubspace in downtown Prince George – a destination where people and ideas come together to start, build and grow sustainable businesses.

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  • For media inquiries, contact:
  • Sean Simmons, Board Chair
  • (250) 613-7727