Fleming College

Peterborough ON (Jan. 18, 2017) – FastStart Fleming College will host CBC TV’s newest dragon from Dragon’s Den Next Gen as part of free event to inspire young entrepreneurs.

Nicole Verkindt, founder of OMX (Offset Market Exchange) and also a CBC news panellist on the business show The Exchange, will speak in Peterborough on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Highlighting the importance of disruptive thinking, technology, innovation, and women’s roles in business, Verkindt stresses to audiences that the key to success lies in the ability to ignore being told “no” over and over again.

Verkindt also believes in the role of entrepreneurs to grow the economy and help solve global issues. She launched OMX in 2012, when she was only 27 years old. The online platform is the only one in the world to manage obligations government contractors have to invest in local economies, a policy called “offsets.” The platform is a powerful online marketplace with users from the world’s top defence, aerospace, shipbuilding sectors, and tens of thousands of local suppliers around the world. The platform also generates data analytics to help governments understand economic impacts of procurement decisions.

Prior to founding OMX, Verkindt launched Tiburon in 2008, an offshore manufacturing business in the Dominican Republic, which sold shelter components to government contractors during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It was also during this time that Haiti experienced their devastating earthquake. She reacted by founding the non-profit organization GlassFrog, which provided aid to the torn nation.

Verkindt graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business with a specialization in International Political Science and Entrepreneurship. Upon graduation, she worked for Big Media Group out of Belgium, and was stationed on international projects consulting with governments and international industry looking to target foreign investment.

Verkindt’s talk will take place at Market Hall from 5-7 p.m. on Feb. 9. Tickets are free and are available here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/e-connect-with-nicole-verkindt-tickets-31135939433

The FastStart Peterborough entrepreneurship program, for youth aged 18-29, is a partnership between Fleming College, Trent University and the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster.

About FastStart
FastStart is an entrepreneurship training partnership designed to increase skills and awareness among Peterborough area youth and help them develop solid business plans and take products and services to market. It is being funded through an $800,000 Government of Ontario grant being shared equally between Fleming College, Trent University, Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology under the province’s On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA) program, managed by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). For more information visit http://www.faststartfs.ca/

About the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster
The Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster drives technology-based, innovation-driven, and entrepreneurship-led economic growth and high-tech job creation by providing programs designed to increase innovation, entrepreneurship, commercialization and new company creation & growth. The Cluster partners with academia and industry to provide support to start-up technology companies and entrepreneurs to help take innovative ideas and processes to market. Core Funding is provided by Ontario Centres of Excellence, Trent University, Fleming College and the Peterborough Region Angel Network. For more information visit http://www.innovationcluster.ca.

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Media, for more information please contact:
Javier Bravo
Entrepreneurship Liaison
Fleming College
705-749-5530 ext. 1152
javier.bravo@flemingcollege.ca
www.flemingcollege.ca