Grainswest Tech 2021

Tech 2021 grainswest.com 11 BY JENNIFER BARBER • PHOTO COURTESY OF SULTECH GLOBAL INNOVATION potential customers or investors,” he said. “We learned to tap into different sources of funding and experience. This way we can go back to our business with better tools and hit the ground running.” AN INDIVIDUAL APPROACH While they may also benefit from networking opportunities, participants in the program’s one-on-one stream may have moved their businesses beyond the early stage. “They often have challenges specific to their own business,” said Dahl. This might include the need for international expansion or to increase pro- duction and pitch their product to retail outlets. “We help them meet their next-step needs.” Murray MacKinnon took part in the one-on-one program to get help with the development of his business as he prepared to carry out a large-scale product launch. His company, Sultech Global Innovation Corp, introduced SulGro65 to farmers this spring. It is the first commercially available elemental sulfur suspension product. The technology is based on a process that converts elemental sulfur produced by the energy sector into a sprayable micronized nutrient sulfur and soil amendment product. “We took an idea that was developed 20 years ago in the oil and gas sector and spent six years developing our tech- nology and doing agronomy research to back up our claims,” said MacKinnon. The sales hook is that the products and the technology are environmentally safe and can contribute to yield sustainability. “What we have learned through this program is that we proba- bly spent too much time testing and researching and not enough building relationships and markets before reaching out to potential customers,” he said. “We think our product has a great story, but we didn’t get on a soapbox and celebrate our story early enough in the process.” MacKinnon said the Sultech team worked closely with their mentors in a thorough review of the company’s business history. Their mentors also helped to refine the company’s messaging prior to its spring product launch. This input was insightful and positive- ly altered the approach to several critical aspects of the business. “Our mentors essentially had us hold a mirror up and asked us, ‘What are your five-year goals and how are you going to get there?’” he said. “You want to be open and honest as they are there to help and they are very generous with their time. Then the next step is to open the door to further introductions to help you make the connections you need. In the end, we will hopeful- ly have the right message to move our business forward.” McGee cautions entrepreneurs that while not all of them will achieve the level of success they hoped for, nor as quickly, they should not give up on their business goals. “Some of these busi- nesses operate in very competitive environments and they will have a hard time breaking in and finding success,” he said. All companies start small and most stay that way, he added. “A lot of agriculture is seasonal, cyclical, subject to Mother Nature and can also be subject to trade actions that are some- times capricious and beyond a business’s control,” he said. “Many are low-gross margin businesses like grocery, hardware and equipment and require significant capital investment to scale. Agriculture has a lot of smart people in the early stages of technical development and it’s important for them to avoid ear- ly-stage pitfalls and prevent delays in their development. We help them do that and build their business one customer at a time.” For more information on Alberta Yield and to register, visit www.platformcalgary.com . Sultech Global Innovation received assistance from Alberta Yield when it launched its first commercially available sulfur soil amendment product.