NEWS RELEASE
TOWN OF INNISFIL
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The Town of Innisfil’s Economic Development team, Innisfil Accelerates, is excited to launch a new five-part podcast series titled Tech Town.
Hosted in partnership with entrepreneur and writer/producer Takara Small, the podcast series delves into how Innisfil reimagines small-town living with big tech aspirations and goals for the future.
“Tech Town shows how progressive thinking can take place in growing rural towns,” said Mayor Lynn Dollin. “We’re proud to have received national and global recognition for punching above our weight and testing ambitious ideas that improve the lives of our residents and attract passionate entrepreneurs. Innisfil’s size makes us nimble and poised to be a leader in innovation.”
Throughout the series produced by Kevin McAnena and T&S Media, Takara Small will explore the ways in which the Town of Innisfil embraces innovation in a rural landscape. Speaking with the strategists behind the plans, entrepreneurs and local residents, there is plenty of material to dig into.
Innisfil is home to Canada’s first rideshare public transit system with Uber, accepts cryptocurrency for property tax payments, and has recently launched a tech start-up acceleration named DMZ Innisfil. Within the coming years, Innisfil will be home to The Orbit—a modern high-density city plan of the future.
“We’re excited to tell Innisfil’s exciting stories of innovation with the release of Tech Town,” said Dan Taylor, Innisfil’s Economic Development Catalyst. “Telling our stories over a 5-part series podcast allows us to understand the people and culture that make Innisfil such a unique and perfect place for businesses and residents. We’re excited to shine a light in great detail on what’s happening under the surface in Innisfil. The Tech Town podcast series allows us to do just that.”
The first episode was released July 27, with a new episode every Monday:
- Episode 1 – Tech Town introduces the series with Mayor Lynn Dollin and CAO Jason Reynar by explaining what the town has been and what it wants to be. Former Innisfil ideaLAB & Library CEO Susan Downs discusses the origin of their creative thinking and journalist Leyland Cecco offers his observations.
- Episode 2 – Operation Innovation: Uber and The Orbit discusses a plan that will transform Innisfil into a mixed-use community that will accommodate up to 40 million square feet of newly constructed space.
- Episode 3 – Accelerating out of the Curve explores the DMZ—the world’s number one university-based accelerator for entrepreneurs—with Sherif El Tawi, the Director of Operations and Strategic Projects for the DMZ.
- Episode 4 – An Entrepreneur’s Story talks about how serial entrepreneurs are now relocating to small towns to take advantage of low start-up costs, affordable living, and international partnerships.
- Episode 5 – The Next Generation features the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade Mary Ng and other leaders about how rural innovation could save the industry.
To listen and keep up-to-date with the episodes, visit innisfilaccelerates.ca/techtown or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Listeners can also use the popular hashtag #TechTown throughout the series to stay engaged with the latest work Innisfil is doing to support local entrepreneurship.
About Takara Small
Takara is a Toronto-based tech entrepreneur, developer and writer. Her work has been featured in news outlets such as the BBC, Toronto Star, Refinery29, Flare magazine, Fortune magazine and more. She previously hosted the Globe and Mail’s technology podcast “I’ll Go First”, which in 2018 was named one of the best technology podcasts in Canada by Apple. Learn more about Tech Town’s host at takarasmall.com.
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