A new Innovation District, meant to highlight innovation-focused businesses, has opened in Windsor’s Downtown core. Led by WEtech Alliance, banners on light posts surrounding Ferry Street, signalling the new district, were unveiled on Wednesday afternoon. Yvonne Pilon, the president and CEO of WEtech, said the announcement is about more than just the new banners. “Ultimately, this is giving a visual identity to the growing cluster of innovation and tech companies that are coming to the core,” Pilon said. Within a 0.5-kilometre radius, there are about 16 startups, tech companies, and innovation-based organizations, according to Pilon. The work was done in collaboration with Rocket Innovation Studio, the University of Windsor, St. Clair College, Invest WindsorEssex, and the City of Windsor. It’s part of an effort to entice more innovation-focused businesses to consider Windsor and to retain those already calling the city home. “We don’t want to see empty sidewalks, we want to see filled sidewalks, we want more tech companies to come downtown, and as we look to what’s next, it’s more of these events, innovation challenges, bringing conferences here,” she said. “We’ll be launching pop-up coworking days next month and so trying to kind of bring workers downtown.” Pilon noted the concept has been in the works for a while, and the city isn’t starting from scratch. “We’re not starting an innovation ecosystem; this is building on that momentum,” Pilon added. On each light pole, stickers with QR codes can be used to provide more information on each specific banner. The launch of the district coincided with a tech connect meetup, intended to showcase the region’s most innovative companies and technologies.
