Welcome to this week’s Midweek Memo. In this issue, get some local insights into building AI companies, discover your next job, learn more about the Business Scale-up and Productivity Program, and plenty more.

Now, onto today’s briefing. It’s 714 words, a three-minute read.

-James, @jimmermatthews

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CleanBC Go Electric ARC program invests $5M in clean transportation

The B.C. government is doubling down on clean transportation. On Sunday, we told you that it invested $395.5 million to support the electrification of public transit across the province. Now, a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) fund is getting another go around.

The CleanBC Go Electric Advanced Research and Commercialization (ARC) program is investing $5 million in a third round of funding to support research, development, and demonstration of new made-in-B.C. technologies.

“B.C. is the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate a 100 percent ZEV target by 2040 ­– and since moving our target date to 2035 – with progressive targets for 2025 and 2030,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. “We are steadily moving toward this commitment, and in fact reached our first target years ahead of schedule. CleanBC supports these targets through many actions, including rebates, infrastructure development, training people for future jobs in zero-emission transportation and community energy, and investing in clean-energy technologies.”

A pair of local projects were notably funded from ARC’s first two rounds. First, the program invested in Victoria’s Gregory C. Marshall Naval Architect to develop an electric utility catamaran. Second, it wrote a cheque to Harbour Air to support the conversion of existing aircraft to be fully electric.

“Technological innovation is just one of many hurdles on the journey to realizing our goal of becoming an electric commercial air operator,” said Bert van der Stege, CEO of Harbour Air. “We value the Province’s support for the project, which not only supports our emission-reduction goals, but has also created good-paying cleantech jobs.”

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🧑‍💻 Startup cycle: Patrick Kelly, the founder and CEO of Frontly, reflects on a recent campaign and how it relates to the journey of building a company.

🧬 Biotech breakthrough: Brock Schuman, the CEO of Azor Biotek, wrote for Drug Discovery Online: Targeting RNA with small molecules.

🤖 AI antagonists: Mike Leslie, the co-founder of Revela, joined the Who Are These Startups? podcast to discuss the challenges faced by AI engineers and data scientists and his company’s work in machine learning.

👩‍💼 Victoria tech moves

Major personnel changes, including promotions, hires, and departures:

• Joanie Faucher joined 8020 as COO

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Communications & Engagement Officer at COAST

• Software Engineer at SunTracker Technologies

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

August 11 | iWIST Summer Party: Prepare to be inspired as Victoria's STEM community gathers for an evening of networking, engaging conversations, and high-quality canapés.

August 16 | Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program Information Session: Are you an innovative, globally-oriented business seeking to accelerate your growth? Then it’s worth checking out this event.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

Two Victoria Tech Journal community members are still after a lead:

• One reader is looking for their next gig. They developed for a few years for a local startup — using React, Python (Django/Flask), PostgreSQL, and AWS — but also has experience in customer-facing roles. Send an email to [email protected] with any help.

• Another is looking for advice on how to get back into the software industry. In a previous life, they had a degree in computer science and a brief career as a software developer (mostly Java, Javascript, and SQL, and a bit of scripting). Can you help them figure out how to return IT, and which skills would be worth learning or brushing up on? Let us know if you can spare some time to chat at [email protected].

And, as always, whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen. Email your requests to the same address!