Niagara College News and Media

Pillitteri Estates Winery, the world’s largest estate producer of Icewine, has called upon the expertise of Niagara College’s wine, business, and graphic design students to develop a new brand for its signature product, Icewine.

On Friday, March 26, five student teams will pitch their innovative visions for an Icewine brand name that holds global appeal. Each team consists of four students representing the Wine Business Management Graduate Certificate, Graphic Design Production – Art and Design Fundamentals, Business Administration – Marketing and Bachelor of Applied Business and Hospitality Operations Management programs.

The student teams will present a proposed brand name and an accompanying label, along with creative background to a judging panel from Pillitteri that includes Chief Marketing Officer and President Lucy Friesen, Chief Financial Officer and President Connie Slingerland, Director of Viticulture Jamie Slingerland, Export Manager and Sommelier Allison Slute and Marketing and Media Relations Manager Jeff Letvenuk.

“These innovative and eager future leaders of our industry are at our doorstep! The Pillitteri team is elated with the prospect of their creative new brand proposals for Icewine. We are so proud to be working with these students,” said Pillitteri Chief Marketing Officer and President Lucy Friesen. “It will be a difficult task selecting a winner with so many quality proposals.”

The project was initiated and came to realization through discussions between Pillitteri and Niagara College representatives that began in the Fall of 2009. The students began their creative work in February 2010.

“This is a great project that gives our students valuable experience that will serve them well as they pursue careers in their chosen field,” said Craig Youdale, Chair of Niagara College’s School of Culinary and Wine Studies. “It’s an opportunity to take the skills and knowledge they’ve developed in the classroom, and apply them in a real-world scenario for one of Canada’s leading wineries.”

The project presentations take place Friday, March 26, at 6 p.m. at the Niagara Culinary Institute at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus, Room HT 109.

Pillitteri Estates Winery is a family run and operated business founded in 1993 and is situated on 53 acres of vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Since its short inception the winery has experienced tremendous growth and has established itself as a leader in the industry. It currently exports to 29 countries and is the largest estate producer of Icewine in the world. Pillitteri has won over 400 international and domestic awards, reflecting the winery’s commitment to produce premium VQA wines.

Niagara College is one of Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, with 8,000 full-time students. Niagara College offers more than 90 diploma, baccalaureate degrees and advanced level programs at campuses in Welland, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. Areas of specialization include food and wine sciences, advanced technology, applied health and community safety, and the College is home to the globally-recognized Niagara Culinary Institute and Niagara College Teaching Winery. In 2008, Niagara College launched an unprecedented $90 million campus redevelopment project, which is scheduled for completion in 2011.

For more information, visit www.NiagaraCollege.ca.

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For information contact:

Craig Youdale
Chair, School of Culinary and Wine Studies
905-641-2252, ext 4633
cyoudale@niagaracollege.ca

Jeff Letvenuk
Marketing and Media Relations Manager
Pillitteri Estates Winery
905-468-3147, ex. 258
jeff@pillitteri.com

Two Niagara College graduates were recently honoured with the TD Canada Trust Small Business Banking Group Award, during the third annual Research Open House hosted by Niagara Research on Saturday, March 20 at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus.

Established in 2010, the TD Canada Trust Small Business Banking Group Award recognizes Niagara College students who have made a significant contribution to Niagara Research and have also successfully started, or are planning to start, a new business venture.

Chris Bowman and Kelsey Roach, 2009 graduates from Niagara College’s New Media Web Design program and Computer Programming program, were recognized by Niagara Research and TD Canada Trust. The award recognizes their outstanding contributions as Research Assistants and recent achievement in launching their own company, VXFusion, an innovative Niagara-based “creative studio” that specializes in website design, e-commerce solutions, branding and advertising media.

“I am very excited to receive the TD Small Business award,” reflects Kelsey Roach, Niagara College graduate. “We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to work for Niagara Research where we have been able to gain real-world experience and skills, which have given us the confidence to start our company.”

“The Niagara Research Team is very proud of Chris and Kelsey for their accomplishments,” said Natalee Tokar, Research Project Manager. “Providing students with the opportunity to work with local industry partners allows them to take the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to a new level. We are thrilled that Chris and Kelsey, along with Niagara College graduate Kevin Poulin, have taken the initiative to start their own company here in the Niagara Region.”

Both Chris and Kelsey succeeded in enhancing Niagara Research initiatives such as the design and development of websites for Roland Bissell of Convergent Telecom as well as the Niagara Teaching Winery and the Niagara College Greenhouse. Additionally, as part of the Niagara Research team, Chris and Kelsey participated in a number of research training programs including Research 101, which is provided to full-time summer research students, and the Research Business and Entrepreneur training program.

The third annual Research Open House coincides with Niagara College’s annual “In Your Backyard” event. Over 30 presentations and 20 poster demonstrations were featured throughout the day and focused on the achievements of student researchers, support of faculty experts and the vision of the research industry and community partners.

Niagara Research is the home of applied research at Niagara College. Applied research is broadly defined as the application of new or existing knowledge to solve practical real-world problems and advance the goals of our community. The role of Niagara Research is to provide real world solutions for business, industry and the community through applied research and development activities. Niagara Research, in partnership with business or community partners, conducts applied research projects that model or simulate solutions, develop and test prototypes, adopt new technologies and knowledge, develop and evaluate new or improved products, processes, or solutions to community issues.

Niagara College is one of Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology. With 8,000 full-time students, Niagara College offers more than 90 diploma, baccalaureate degrees and advanced level programs at campuses in Welland, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. Areas of specialization include food and wine sciences, advanced technology, applied health and community safety, and the College is home to the globally-recognized Niagara Culinary Institute and Niagara College Teaching Winery. In 2008, Niagara College launched an unprecedented $90 million campus redevelopment project, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. For more information, visit www.NiagaraCollege.ca.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: PHOTO ATTACHED. INCLUDES (LEFT TO RIGHT): Natalee Tokar (Research Project Manager), Larry Kent (Manager, TD Canada Trust , Queen St. St. Catharines, on behalf of Small Business Banking, Central Ontario Region), Chris Bowman, Kelsey Roach.

For more information, contact:

Natalee Tokar
Project Manager, Research and Innovation Division
Niagara College Canada
905-641-2252, ext. 4151
ntokar@niagaracollege.ca