The time has come for another round of local companies that we find fresh, exciting and thoughtful. This month has brought a range of different local businesses that have us falling in love for all kinds of reasons. Check it out:
[305 Northfield Dr E, Waterloo | 519-883-8683 | www.timelessmaterials.com]
TIMELESS MATERIAL CO
This has become a favourite for NMI, our go to spot for brainstorming and inspiration. Tucked away on Northfield Drive, Timeless offers a crafter’s wonderland of local reclaimed wood and antique items like window frames and door knobs to purchase for your own projects. They specialize in building beautiful, custom designs like coffee tables, sliding barn doors and dining room pieces. We frequently find ourselves there during team meetings to clear our minds and to bring back fresh ideas for our own projects.
Aside from being the nicest people ever, these guys are seriously creative and resourceful. Not many people can take an old piece of wood and make it into something so desirable. They have created an atmosphere where you are free to explore and use your imagination, where you feel nostalgic but also visionary, all with reclaimed wood, LOCAL reclaimed wood at that! What’s cooler than getting a piece of décor from a local business using local materials? They can even tell you specific places where the wood comes from (old buildings and churches in the region) That’s pretty thoughtful in our books.
[55 King Street West, Kitchener | 519-489-4120 | www.igloosoftware.com]
IGLOO SOFTWARE
Founded in 2008 and based in Kitchener, Igloo is providing digital transformation solutions for today’s workplace. They partner with their customers to address company challenges related to communication, collaboration, culture and engagement. Not only is the program compatible with popular cloud apps like Slack and Office 365 but it is customizable to look like your brand, not Igloo! The app focuses around empowering your teams to work more cohesively, no matter where they are and enabling closer connections both vertically and horizontally across your organization.
Collaboration and company culture are our jam. It’s what NMI was based around so of course, when we see another business that values this as much as we do, we start to crush on them a little 😉 Igloo is adapting to the modern workplace and they are encouraging others to follow along – this is exciting!
[200 University Ave West, Waterloo | www.velocity.uwaterloo.ca]
VELOCITY
Though it’s outside of our usual realm, we had to shout out Velocity for being the leading, entrepreneur program at the University of Waterloo. Velocity partners with startups and provides them with the knowledge and tools to move their idea to development and commercialization. Since starting in 2008, they have worked with many notable companies such as Thalmic Labs, Sortable and Kik and have helped over 300 companies get off the ground, creating more than 2,250 jobs! They continue to offer many programs for entrepreneurs including grants, weekly workshops and coaching.
Velocity checks off all three boxes on our fresh, exciting and thoughtful list. How can you not appreciate a company that focuses on giving new ideas legs to stand on and that helps to grow so many start-ups into thriving companies that employ many people from our own community?
Come back in November to see who filled our three fresh, exciting and thoughtful list! If you think you deserve to make the list, let us know why. We can’t wait to meet you!