Province and Oceans Advance congratulate ICAN on business excellence award

Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, and Keith Stoodley, chairperson of Oceans Advance, today offered congratulations to International Communications and Navigation (ICAN) on taking top honours at the St. John�s Board of Trade Annual Business Awards Gala. ICAN received the Innovation Award, the Growth in Domestic/Export Markets Award, and the board�s top honour, the 2005 Business Excellence Award.

�I am very pleased that ICAN has received this well-deserved recognition,� said Minister Dunderdale. �ICAN is an outstanding company and an excellent example of how companies can thrive through innovation and exporting to the world.�

�These awards recognize the growing importance of the marine technology sector in Newfoundland and Labrador,� said Mr. Stoodley. �The marine economy is worth over $1.1 billion annually to the provincial economy and it is companies like ICAN that are helping it grow.�

ICAN exports Electronic Charting Systems and Marine Communications for Automated Identification and Global Positioning Systems to clients in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., China, Australia and Sweden. The company employs 35 people spanning three provinces and two U.S. states. Their innovative technologies are at work on vessels in the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Mississippi River, by the Chilean Navy and by the Icelandic and Canadian Coast Guards.

ICAN makes 90 per cent of its sales through exports, which it increased by 65 per cent in 2005 and was the winner of the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development�s Newfoundland and Labrador 2005 Exporter of the Year Award.

Media contact: Lynn Evans, Communications, (709) 729-4570, 690-6290

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