| Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | VersaBank closes Stearns Bank deal and extends its main lending product into the U.S. VersaBank’s long march into the United States is complete: the London digital bank officially launched in the U.S. market this week after its acquisition of Stearns Bank Holdingford N.A. (SBH) in Minnesota. It has been very bullish on its stateside expansion throughout the process of closing the (US)$14-million acquisition, highlighting the potential for its Receivable Purchase Program (RPP) financing product south of the border. “This is a transformational event in VersaBank’s growth strategy, enabling us to bring our unique and highly attractive RPP solution, which has been very successful in Canada, to the largest point-of-sale financing market in the world,” said president David Taylor. “Because our bank effectively operates in the cloud, we are able to launch our RPP solution in the U.S. with essentially no capital expenditures.” VersaBank said it is close to finalizing its first U.S. clients for the RPP product. The upshot: Separately, VersaBank also released its latest financial results, which show the bank to be in pretty good shape as it embarks on its U.S. expansion. Q3 this year wasn’t as strong as Q2, but year-over-year the bank’s net income per share is up 17 per cent, while its total assets are up 13 per cent. “Outside of several factors related specifically to closing our U.S. acquisition, our financial results continue to demonstrate the underlying strength and efficiency of our business model,” said Taylor. And he hasn’t forgotten that they also have a small bank in Minnesota to run. “I want to personally reiterate VersaBank’s commitment to continuing to serve the community of Holdingford, building on the proud legacy of the [Stearns Bank] team.” Upon closing, SBH was renamed VersaBank USA N.A. Read more: Newswire | | | LHSC slashes management ranks, hints at further cost-cutting measures The anticipated cuts at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) have come down, with the hospital eliminating more than 50 management positions and demoting a further 71 employees, according to reports. An email from interim hospital CEO David Musyj (pictured), reported on by CBC News London, said that the hospital had “resutructured our leadership and executive administrative support team by 31 per cent,” a move that will result in “$11 million in savings from terminations and approximately another $3 million in savings from reassignments.” On Thursday, Musyj said the cuts were painful. “This is not easy on anybody,” he said. “If you were to have one part of your job that truly sucks, this is it. It’s not good.” The upshot: The cuts come as the LHSC chips away at a $150-million budget shortfall; today’s restructuring amounts to around $14 million, per the hospital’s estimates. At a press conference on Thursday, Musyj didn’t rule out having to cut further, including cuts to frontline staff. “I’m not ruling out anything right now,” he said, but “I don’t want it to be assumed that that’s where we’re going.” On Thursday, the hospital also announced one new hire, appointing Nick Vlacholias as its new CFO come November. Vlacholias is currently president and CEO of Brockville General Hospital, where he tackled a similar deficit problem after taking over in 2017. Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | Will the fall season break London’s housing market lethargy? The London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) released data for home sales in the month of August this week, and while recent interest rate cuts delivered a tinge of optimism to the market, August saw both transactions and the average sale price slide. According to LSTAR, a total of 577 homes exchanged hands in the region (the LSTAR catchment area also takes in Strathroy, St. Thomas and portions of Middlesex and Elgin counties), a drop of six per cent from the same month last year. The average sale price also declined to $629,259, a four per cent fall compared to the same period last year and a marked slide from an average sale price of $654,593 in July of this year. There were 1,328 new listings in August, a not unexpected mid-summer dip from the 1,531 homes that listed in July. The upshot: As the market exits the summer doldrums and heads into fall, there’s plenty to watch here. Of particular interest in the August stats is the average price, which had been holding steady over the past few months but posted a bit of an eye-raising drop last month. There’s no question that buyers are now firmly in the driver’s seat locally, but with the Bank of Canada cutting key interest rates again this week and signaling more cuts lie ahead, we could see homebuyers start to come off the sidelines and deliver some market firming. “Despite the fluctuations in sales activity, average price and dollar volume, the increase in new and active listings indicates a more balanced market, providing more opportunities for buyers and sellers alike,” said LSTAR board chair Kathy Amess. “There are lots of opportunities for buyers in this market, which in turn benefits our sellers. Additionally, with the Bank of Canada lowering its key interest rate to 4.25 per cent [Wednesday], we anticipate a potential boost in market activity as borrowing costs decrease.” Read more: LSTAR | | | Medtech startup Deep Breathe wins top prize at U.S. Army’s xTechInternational 2024 London medtech startup Deep Breathe, which develops AI-powered lung ultrasound diagnostics systems, took home the top prize at 2024 xTechInternational, a global competition hosted by the U.S. Army that invites companies to showcase the potential military applications of their technologies. The competition, held in Madrid, Spain, attracted more than 100 applicants across various industries and academic institutions. The Deep Breathe pitch focused on how its ultrasound technology could be deployed in acute injury situations. “Being in the winner’s circle was a huge honour for us at Deep Breathe,” the company said on LinkedIn. “Our winning solution reimagines how torso trauma can be assessed and managed across the military ecosystem by leveraging the power of AI and ultrasound technology.” The upshot: For its efforts, Deep Breathe (founded in 2021) took home a cash prize of (US)$95,000 ― nothing to shake a stick at ― plus entry into the xTech Accelerator, a mentorship program to help grow companies with technologies that could be used in military contexts. That’s probably a good on-ramp to what one imagines is the real prize contestants are after here: lucrative U.S. defense contracts. “This recognition from the U.S. Army is a testament to our team’s dedication and the transformative potential of our technology,” said founder and CEO Dr. Rob Arntfield. “Our AI-driven ultrasound solutions are designed to bring life-saving diagnostic capabilities to the point of care, even in the most challenging environments.” Read more: BetaKit | | | 120 Queens Avenue included in Canada’s new public land bank for housing initiatives The long-vacant, three-storey glass office building at 120 Queens Avenue (at Talbot Street) landed on the federal government’s list of properties it hopes to redevelop as, or make room for, housing initiatives. The Lipton Building, built in 1956, is in pretty shabby condition, according to the feds, but sits on a prime lot (both the building and the lot are federally owned). “That’s a great spot,” downtown councillor David Ferreria told The London Free Press. “There’s lots of development going on there as it is, lots of diversity in the types of housing that we’re going to see there, and this is just going to add to the mix.” Exactly what might end up going there is still anyone’s guess ― the government is now soliciting feedback from the development sector as to how to handle the building. Office-to-residential conversions are certainly not unheard of (there are a handful going on in London) but have not been as eagerly adopted by developers as many had hoped. The upshot: The feds also seem keen to work with a non-profit housing provider on this project, perhaps opening the door to a partner like Indwell to step up. They’re also not looking to do a straight-up land sale deal, and instead want to lease the space. “We emphasize leasing, because that way we can ensure that it would be affordable housing that would be based here,” said London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos. “Instead of selling the properties and then hoping it goes to housing, I think there’s a lot to be said about keeping it under federal ownership.” Read more: London Free Press | | | Researchers develop new tool to detect consciousness in ICU settings A team of local researchers have developed a new tool to detect consciousness in coma patients following severe brain injuries. The team of researchers from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University published their research recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showing that the use of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) tools could detect preserved consciousness in unresponsive patients. The tool and technique was first tested on healthy patients before researchers deployed it in the ICU, where an unresponsive patient showed normal brain responses to the instruction to imagine playing a game of tennis. “These findings could fundamentally change the way patients are cared for,” said Dr. Karnig Kazazian, one of the lead researchers. “Deploying a simple tool like fNIRS at the bedside has the potential to provide clinicians information about preserved brain function that standard clinical tools are not capable of doing.” The upshot: It may seem fairly academic, but to get a sense of how impactful this kind of research could be, put yourself in the shoes of a family member with an unconscious relative. “Families of patients with severe brain injuries want to know whether their loved ones will be able to recover from their injuries,” said neurologist Dr. Derek Debicki, part of the research team. The team’s research advances the work of Western neuroscientist Dr. Adrian Owen, who in 2006 (four years before coming to Western) published groundbreaking work proving that unresponsive patients could be entirely aware of what was happening around them, a discovery that launched him to prominence in the neuroscience world. The research team says they want to keep pushing their work forward, including exploring “the potential of using fNIRS to communicate with ICU patients, potentially unlocking groundbreaking advancements in patient care.” Read more: LHSC | | | Dispatch: September 6, 2024 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |