Richmond Hill, ON

Richmond Hill, ON facilitates business growth with Centre for Local Innovation and Collaboration

Seventeen local businesses form the CLIC's pilot cohort. Researchers from OCAD University identify market insights and growth opportunities for each business. These consultations focus on human-centered design principles that fulfill consumer needs. The city's Small Business Enterprise Centre assists CLIC participants in their search for R&D and funding resources at the local, provincial, and national levels.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada

Richmond Hill, ON envisions future infrastructure needs with Enterprise Asset Management System

Richmond Hill's EAMS prioritizes infrastructure decisions based on realistic projections of financial conditions and community needs. The EAMS was developed by a cross-departmental team to accurately capture 300,000 city assets. City officials find current information on the lifecycle, risk, and service levels of assets ranging from community centers to sewers. The system projects future asset conditions based on budget increases, decreases, and freezes.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada

Richmond Hill, ON encourages purchases at local businesses with #ShopRichmondHill campaign

The one-month campaign asked shoppers to post their purchases from local shops on social media. Every post that included #ShopRichmondHill, tagged the city's account, and mentioned the business name was entered into a drawing. The main prize was a $500 gift certificate to any participating business. City officials created the campaign with the local Business Improvement Area to stimulate an economy diminished by COVID-19.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada

Richmond Hill, ON improves pothole identification and repair time with ROVER AI technology

The city conducted a 135-day pilot of the ROVER dash-mounted system created by local firm Visual Defence. Road conditions were captured by a smartphone and evaluated using AI-enabled analytics. Each pothole image included the depth and width of the damage, location, and date of discovery. Richmond Hill typically uses manual inspections and resident reports to create inventories of required road repairs.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada

Richmond Hill, ON partners with Freshworks for Startups on small business development program

Local startups and entrepreneurs apply for up to $4,000 CAD in credits for Freshworks products through the city. The program lowers the costs of innovative business technology like freshrelease product management software. Richmond Hill's program also connects emerging businesses with global mentoring and networking opportunities. This initiative is the first time that a Canadian local government has partnered with Freshworks.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada

Richmond Hill, ON generates small business partnerships with Municipal Business Innovation Contest

City officials opened the contest to locally owned businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Each applicant proposed a partnership with Richmond Hill that solves a challenge facing public officials or advances municipal innovation. Contest judges are looking for projects that can be implemented within one year of approval. The Municipal Business Innovation Contest will issue a $10,000 CAD award to the winning project.

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Richmond Hill, ON

Canada