If today's business leaders want to continue to get the job done, they're going to have to alter their plans for the future.

Or so says Juan Enriquez, one of the world's key authorities on the economic and political impacts of the life sciences. Enriquez claims genetics will become the language of the century and, in turn, the greatest single driver of the global economy.

And countries and individuals must recognize this new language, learn to speak it or get left behind, he told more than 1,000 people at Edmonton Economic Development Corp.'s (EEDC) annual luncheon held last week at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Enriquez is chairman and CEO of Biotechonomy, a Massachusetts-based company that funds startups working to develop the promise of the genomic revolution. He predicted knowledge arising from decoding the human genome will transform the battle against cancer from one of fighting symptoms after diagnosis to one of information management - where the newfound data will allow cancer to be dealt a crippling blow before it becomes a danger.

Jack Dagley, Business Edge
Roberto Sgambaro shows off salmon from Experience Gastronomique and his business trophy.

"You need to continue to build your universities, because the future of this region, and this country, depends on what you do with your kids today," he said. "Some of them can work in oil, but you'd better make sure some of them are digitally literate and life- sciences literate, because that's what's going to power your economy going forward."

The EEDC event also saw chef Roberto Sgambaro reel in the $100,000 grand prize in the third annual VenturePrize business plan competition.

Sgambaro's company, Experience Gastronomique, which specializes in smoked salmon and related products, made it past 77 other business concepts that registered in the 2004-05 edition of Venture-Prize.

"It's just awesome," said Sgambaro. "It's an incredible feeling. You're just very, very proud because I know the hard work and time and energy and commitment and passion that went into doing this."

Experience Gastronomique receives $25,000 in cash, $25,000 of in-kind business services and $50,000 of research and technology commercialization services.

"I actually took the courses in Year 1 (of VenturePrize) and I realized that we weren't ready for this competition. In Year 2, I still didn't believe we were ready. And this year we were ready, and when I entered the business plan, I strongly believed I could do a podium finish in the top three," said Sgambaro. "We hit our goal and have done even better than that by actually winning the competition."

The victory marks what will likely be the start of the company's next phase.

"We've increased our sales every year and we've reached the point where our growth is capped by our current plant capacity, so we need to expand. We want to build a plant that will meet federal inspection standards so we can sell our products outside of Alberta. Right now, we can only sell our products in Alberta," said Sgambaro.

Experience Gastronomique already has a parcel of land in northeast Edmonton, where it intends to supply North America with its fresh smoked-salmon products. The plant will cost $1.65 million to build and an additional $1.2 million to equip. It could result in the creation of about 15 jobs.

But while Sgambaro hooked the prize catch of the luncheon, runnersup Gennux Microsys-tems Corp. and Prodont Inc. each received $20,000, broken down to $10,000 in cash and $10,000 of in-kind business services.

Gennux, the developer of eW@LL, a service that combats increasing volumes of spam in both e-mail and phone text-messaging environments, said its winnings will help defray the costs of entering the competition.

Terry Shaban, eW@ALL's general manager, said the exposure the three-year-old company received from VenturePrize was important.

"Hopefully Edmonton will understand that we're here. We're a potentially billion-dollar company and hopefully they'll gather around us and give us the support we need," Shaban said.

The outcome was more disappointing for Prodont, although CEO Derek Gilboe added the exposure was very good. Prodont provides real-time condition measurement services for petrochemical production, transmission and processing.

"We have a tremendous opportunity that is not just limited to downhole markets, but is also applicable to refineries, chemical plants and transmission pipelines," said Gilboe.

However, Gilboe suggested that the VenturePrize program, now administered by TEC Edmonton - a joint EEDC and University of Alberta operation - could use some tweaking.

"I think a company that has been established for five to 10 years would get a lot out of it but for an early-stage company, the criteria that they use makes it really difficult," said Gilboe.

J.D. Hole, the president and CEO of the Lockerbie & Hole Group of Companies, was named the new EEDC board chair at the event.

As well, the 2005 EEDC Business Achievement Award was given to Canadian Western Bank in recognition of outstanding corporate achievement by a company headquartered in Edmonton.

EEDC HIGHLIGHTS Key EEDC Achievements (2004):

* Attracted Dell Inc.

(750 new jobs).

* New wave of construction at the Edmonton Research Park.

* Hall D construction begins - expansion of convention space at the Shaw Conference Centre.

* Confirmed 82,000 room nights ($22.4 million in economic impact).

* COMS 2004 was held, the ninth International Conference on the Commercialization of Micro and Nano Systems, which gave Edmonton a global profile in micro and nanosystems.

Key EEDC Objectives (2005):

* Execute regional marketing plan to attract 500 jobs.

* Construct a biotechnology business development centre.

* Complete Hall D construction.

* Secure additional sustainable funding for tourism marketing.

* Attract $25 million in film expenditures.

- Source: EEDC (Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)