Kyle Folk – CEO – Kyle grew up grain farming with his parents on their 4000-acre farm. In 2011 he founded an AgTech company called IntraGrain Technologies Inc. Kyle started IntraGrain from nothing and grew it to be one of the largest grain storage monitoring companies in the world before it was acquired in 2018 by a Canadian public company. …
When Eliza Doyle’s car broke down in Nashville in 2015, she found herself happily stuck in Music City. The venerable Saskatchewan banjo player and singer/songwriter had stopped in to see a festival and ended up enjoying an extended stay, playing in bars and meeting all manner of talented musicians. Having been on sabbatical to follow her muse anyway, it seemed …
Zita Cobb is a Canadian business leader and social entrepreneur who helped transformed her birthplace into a model for community-driven economic development. Born on Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1958, her family was forced to leave when the cod fishery collapsed. After studying business in Ottawa, she became CFO of JDS Uniphase, a global leader in fiber optics technology. …
Rural communities don’t lack opportunity—they lack visibility. In this session, the Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation (RMED) will show how their standardized community inventory system is changing that. By mapping infrastructure, workforce, economic assets, and investment readiness, RMED has turned fragmented communities into clear, investment-ready opportunities. This approach: Helps communities identify strengths and gaps Makes rural regions easier for investors …
Margot Cathcart Chief Executive Officer Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation (RMED) Margot Cathcart grew up in rural Manitoba, graduated from Brandon University, and after living in Japan and Winnipeg, returned to Brandon with her husband to raise their two sons. Describing herself as a “builder,” she has been involved from the ground up in product, business, and industry development. Her …
Jaigris Hodson is the Canada Research Chair in Digital Misinformation, Polarization, and Anti-Social Media. Their research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the technologies we use to communicate heighten our vulnerabilities to misinformation, polarization, and other on- and offline anti-social behaviors. Hodson uses novel, field-building approaches to map the relationships between polarization, misinformation, and online harassment, and to facilitate …
Jaigris Hodson is the Canada Research Chair in Digital Misinformation, Polarization, and Anti-Social Media. Their research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the technologies we use to communicate heighten our vulnerabilities to misinformation, polarization, and other on- and offline anti-social behaviors. Hodson uses novel, field-building approaches to map the relationships between polarization, misinformation, and online harassment, and to facilitate …
What happens when the people closest to a problem are the furthest from the decisions meant to solve it? In 2020, four Alberta ranching families launched Flokk Systems to tackle a critical gap in Canada’s livestock traceability system—one that regulators knew existed, but rural producers were expected to fix without the right tools. What followed was six years of effort, …
Laurie Wall’s journey isn’t just about food—it’s about evolution. From cooking on wood stoves to building a digitally connected culinary brand, Laurie has redefined what it means to be a rural entrepreneur in a modern world. In this session, Laurie shares how she leveraged technology to scale her business, amplify her voice, and create deeper connections with her audience—without losing …
Learn how the film industry is a powerful economic driver for Saskatchewan. Join Creative Saskatchewan and ScreenSask for an engaging session that explores the film industry’s structure and how the new incentive program provides revenue-generating opportunities for Saskatchewan’s rural and urban communities. Speakers Erin Dean: CEO, Creative Saskatchewan Remi Dufour: Director of Film Finance, Creative Saskatchewan Robert Hardy: Executive Director, …
