Semi-Annual Conference Highlights

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On October 27, our members and guests gathered for a marquee OG100 event, our semi-annual conference. The conference aim was to help business leaders prepare for today’s uncertainty: adjust the playbook and retool to address new economic, technological, and geopolitical realities.

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The day started with a Welcome Address with Premier Doug Ford – the Premier was right when he said as our province and country navigate economic uncertainty, medium-sized businesses will be critical to the strength and resilience of our economy. As we know at OG100, mid-sized companies represent less than 1% of the total number of firms in Canada, yet account for 16% of all jobs and generate 12% of our national GDP. Our mid-sized CEOs punch above their weight.
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Pictured in this Image: Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario

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Our first speaker of the day was Osagie Imasogie, professor at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Co-Founder of PIPV Capital. Osagie has over 30 years of experience in finance, law, business management and the pharma industry. Osagie set the stage for a great day of stimulated conversation, including his thoughts on the power of IP in life sciences. Full presentation linked below.

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Pictured in this Image: Osagie Imasogie, Co-founder of PIPV Capital and an Adjunct Professor at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
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[button text=”CLICK HERE TO VIEW OSAGIE IMASOGIE’S PRESENTATION!” expand=”true” link=”https://og100.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Osagie-Imasogie-Presentation-Oct-27-2022.pdf”]

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After Osagie’s keynote, we plunged into the provincial landscape with an Ontario Deputy Ministers’ Panel featuring the DMs from: the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction. A list of hot topics were covered, including:

What the province is doing to help solve labor shortages as the battle of talent continues, even as a recession looms.
Issues that the government sees when dealing with mid-sized companies – significant employers, exporters and innovators in Canada.
Areas of opportunities for forward-leaning CEOs who have weathered the tides of COVID and continue to grow in the face of adversity.
What Ontario is doing in relation to a North American strategy as we build resilience into supply chains

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Pictured in this image: John Kelly, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Maud Murray, Ministry of Red Tape Reduction, Stephen Rhodes, Ministry of Economic Development, Bruce Archibald, Associative Director, OG100.

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After a chance to network over lunch, the group gathered again to hear from three of Canada’s leading CEOs on their challenges and struggles as they navigated the pandemic; lessons learned and permanent changes that have arisen from COVID-19. Nothing tops candid insight from CEOs! Thanks to Nitin Jain (Sienna Senior Living) Dino Bianco (Kruger Products) and Lydia Chen (InnVest Hotel) for sharing their experiences, and of course, Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail) and Steve Mayer (Greenhill Canada) for leading the conversation and making this panel come to life. All three CEOs were featured in a book entitled “Unprecedented: Canada’s Top CEOs on Leadership During COVID”, co-edited by Andrew and Steve, with proceeds from the book going to the United Way. To date, the book has raised over $3.5 million for the United Way. At OG100, we were pleased to donate to the United Way in lieu of gifts for our Semi-annual conference speakers.

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The day ended with a look at the Economic Landscape with a very senior official at the Bank of Canada. We discussed the new fiscal realities and what businesses can expect in 2023 and beyond. The day prior (Oct 26) the Bank of Canada increased policy interest rate by 50 basis points, continuing its quantitative tightening policy. The Bank is resolute in its commitment to restore price stability for Canadians and will continue to take action to achieve the 2% inflation target – with a target date of December 2024.

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The day brought our members and guests as close to macroeconomic policy making as they’re ever going to get, at a very important time.”– Geoff Smith, OG100 Board Chair & CEO, EllisDon

As always, at OG100, we pride ourselves on delivering small, intimate meetings which allow for candour and real discussion (no media, and under the Chatham House Rule). This private event was open only to our members and invited guests. For information about upcoming OG100 events – including our Annual Summit and flagship event – contact the office today info@og100.org

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