Toby Reid: Representing Canada at the G20 YES

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation has selected 30 dynamic young Canadian entrepreneurs to form the official Canadian delegation at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) in Nice, France on October 31-November 2, 2011. The G20 YES is an annual international summit that brings together dedicated and influential entrepreneurs of the G20 countries. Toby Reid is a Canadian delegate.

• My motto: “Keep it simple”    “Life’s a garden, dig It”
• Company name:  Solegear Bioplastics Inc.
• Activity: Chemicals / Bioplastics
• Number of employees: 5
• Headquarters’ Address: #210 – 2386 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
• Website: www.solegear.ca

Why I became an entrepreneur:

The route to becoming an entrepreneur began with a course I took in Business School at Dalhousie University. The course was called New Venture Development, and through that course, I knew that I would one day start and operate my own business. After 10 years of gaining the requisite experience, I knew the market timing for my product idea had come, so I began the process of creating my business. The concept for developing and distributing bioplastics came from a product development project, where I uncovered a huge unmet need for durable and compostable plastics. From there, Solegear was born.

My best moment as an entrepreneur, my success:

The most rewarding moment of my career as an entrepreneur thus far came when I was nominated for a Manning Innovation Award, which is an annual set of awards given in Canada for the country’s top innovators. This was humbling, validating and very encouraging for our team.

My next challenge:

Solegear is ramping up and we are in the early stages of product sales. The next challenge we face is to access larger clients and fulfill their product material needs in a more timely and effective manner. This is a process I am enjoying greatly and I look forward to making further headway.