44 -— Wednesday, March 25, 1992 - North Shore News BUSINESS BRIEFS LOCAL INVENTION NORTH VANCOUVER-based Regenesis Development Corp. has received a $148,000 loan from the Western Economic Diversification fund (WD) to help market a new product that will make it easier to answer the telephone, flip through TV channels, rewind VCRs or turn off a lamp. While these tasks are simple to perform for most people, they can prove to be difficult for disabled people. Total costs of marketing Regenesis Development Corp.’s Environmental Control System (ECS) is estimated at $398,000. ECS is a wireless electronic unit that controls electrical outlets and appliances. A computer link is also being developed that would allow voice activation of the unit to help the severely disabied in- dependently control many of their household functions. As well, the system is designed in modules so buyers can choose which features they want without having to purchase the entire system. Regenesis is the commercial subsidiary of the Neil Squire Foundation (NSF) which is a non-profit organization dedicated BUSINESS BRIEFS 106 increasing the independence of disabled adults. ho is the company’s job to transfer the technology developed in NSF's labs into new products for the marketplace. Rezenesis an- ticipates ECS will perform strong- ly in export markets throughout North America. “NSF has more people doing research on developing in- dependence technology than any other organization in the world,” said Regenesis president William Cameron. “Our products are de- veloped by listening to the needs of disabled people. Our engineers aud technicians work very clasely with the people who will ultimate- ly use the technology.”’ North Vancouver MP Chuck Cook said the new product will be beneficial to both the disabled and the elderly. 24-HOUR SERVICE FIRST THERE was 24-hour banking and now there is 24-hour drycleaning. Matkin Cleaners in West Van- couver has installed a new machine that aliows customers 10 pick up their drycleaning 24 hours a day. Nigel Malkin said customers simply drep off their drycleaning during business hours, pre-pay for the service and are then handed a card. Then, at any hour, customers can insert the card into the new machine and the machine will pick up the order and hand it to the customer through a glass door. The card is then destroyed by the machine, Malkin said his new machine is the first of its kind on the North Shore. “‘T thought it was a good way to offer additional service and get an edge on the competition,” said Malkin. ‘In West Vancouver people really don’t have time to stand around waiting fcr their drycleaning.”’ MARKETING SEMINAR SMALL BUSINESSES, which are on the rise in the Greater Van- couver area, will have to lay a solid foundation if they want to survive and prosper in the coming years,”” says Dan Kennedy, author of the four-volume set Gerung fn- to Business Guides. He adds that over 10,000 new small businesses have opened their doors in the Vancouver area in the past year. Kennedy will offer a seminar entitled Secrets of Successful Marketing at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre on April 6 _Bank of Montreal > Small Business Rate : which wil lav down the ground tules that every business en- trepreneur should know and follow. For more information on the seminar contact Rob Lauridsen- Hoegh at 986-3366. See Trade page 45 MM YEARS ‘PRIME MINUS 1/2%° At Bank of Montreal, we're committed to finding new and better ways to help people who own or operate a small business. Only Bank of Montreal offers the Small Business Rate which, until July 1, 1992, will track half a percentage point below our Prime Rate. It's available to all small business and agriculture clients with floating rate loans of $100,000 or less. Let's talk. Contact Gordon Smith, Manager, Commercial Banking on the North (Le | Shore at 984-4749, or call our InfoService at 665-2700. faa] Bankof Montreal We're Paying Attention ) ecau e. The Proposed > The proposed Child Benefit will, if passed by Parliament, go out to over 3 milsion Canadian families starting in January 1993. > The proposed Child Benefit will replace today’s patchwork of measures — Family Allowances, Child Tax Credit and Dependent Child Credit — with one monthly payment. ® The proposed Child Benefit will go to those families with children who need it — those with low and modest incomes. Te Bate It’s Fairer! .. os Ze =6What's more, it is based on family income, which is a fairer way gen of determining the amount of assistance that children actually need. The proposed Child Benefit will include an earned-income supplement to increase support for tow-income working famities. > The proposed Child Benefit will increase federal support for children by $2.1 billion over 5 years. For example, a family with one child, earning $20,000, can receive as much as $1,733 per year — an increase of 40%. What's more, it would be tax-free — you wouldn’t be taxed on the proposed Child Benefit! APaEUA Ma Nats a TE ‘a. eeepreenmee = Once fully in place, the proposed monthly Child Benefit will It S: Mor € Res ponsive. oe respond to changing family circumstances, such as the birth of a 7 7 Schild. > The proposed Child Benefit wilt automatically be sent to you each month. If you file a tax return, there’s no need to apply unless you have a change in family circumstances. At tax time, as well, you would find your tax return easier to prepare. > Watch for information with your March Family Allowances payment or fill out the coupon below and we'll send you more information. Children Matter Name P.O. Box 8176 Ottawa, Ontario Street —_—... K1G3H7 . (J in English City. (J in French Province | NEWS phote Cindy Goodman PAUL GALLANT, president of Wrebbit Inc., a toys and games manufacturer, displays his castle jigsaw puzzle. Known as Puzz 3-D, the demand for the three dimensional puzzle is in- creasing throughout North America. __.__.__ Postal Code Gouvernamant du Canada a Government of Canada > Sanie et Sien-étre social Canada Health and Welfare Canada