"That's our son out there, #12. The one who just scored!" If you have been around a local hockey rink or soccer field on a Saturday morning, you have probably heard these people. The proud parents of the seven year old player on the red team, sponsored by Big Mama's Steak House, who fell down and had the puck/ball ricochet off his left buttock and into the net. "Did you see that; pure brilliance!" In an ongoing tradition the rest of the parents will clap loudly and cheer not just for the goal scoring kid but they'll high five the parents and pat them on the back.  "Nice work John and Lisa, you really made a good kid there!" John and Lisa will stand there in a trance with huge smiles on their faces, so proud of their son with the great scoring tou… "Hey our kid just scored, forget John and Lisa everyone - look at us!"

If you live in the Waterloo Region you have probably heard of a company called Miovision; even if you don't live in the area, hopefully you are aware of their growing success. In such an amazing ecosystem of support for high tech companies from inception through start-up mode to full grown company there are numerous groups, associations, and entities that will have a hand in a company's successful path. For the purpose of this posting I'm going to be the proud parent on behalf of the entire team here at the Accelerator Centre (AC).

As stated on their website: "Miovision Technologies Incorporated creates intelligent solutions to address the challenges facing today's global transportation networks.  With our video and web-based technologies, we help data collectors, traffic consultants and municipal governments reduce the cost of collecting, analyzing, and reporting accurate traffic data. Our products and services help reduce traffic congestion, minimize environmental impacts and improve the overall safety of our roads."

Miovision was our very first Client back in 2006 when we opened our doors. Three brilliant founders; Kurtis McBride, Kevin Madill, and Tony Brijpaul have guided and grown Miovision from the three of them to approximately 70 employees stationed in their own building right here in the Waterloo Region. They have opened an office in Germany and have customers on five different continents. Pretty impressive stuff really, but perhaps more impressive from our standpoint is the fact that Miovision has taken on the role of mentor to many of the companies that have followed them through our doors. All three founders are part of our Entrepreneurship Council, which means they volunteer their time to sit in meetings and offer advice to our current Clients.

There are many great companies in our Region, and Miovision is often pointed to as the poster child for a successful start-up enterprise. We couldn't agree more! We are proud to have had them in our building and would like to think, in fact I know, we had a hand in helping them on their way. "Look at our kid! They just scored a goal!"

Twitter: @AC_Waterloo