Issue link: http://georgiancollege.uberflip.com/i/1431800
23 GEORGIANVIEW FALL 2021 DIGITAL EDITION DONOR SPOTLIGHT DONOR SPOTLIGHT That was the beginning of Stealth Computer Corporation, later rebranded as stealth.com. As he grew his business, he eventually expanded into two buildings that had a total of 27,000 square feet of space. Goodbye one-bedroom apartment! "I was fortunate to have had really good advice along the way," he says. "One of the best things I did was purchase those buildings instead of paying rent. I had to come up with creative ways to finance everything because in the early days, I didn't have the money." Skirting buyout offers for many years, Stealth was eventually acquired by a large public company in 2015. Ed rewarded his employees handsomely for their hard work and dedication, supporting the company through the years of growth. Exiting his main company now gave Ed the time to pursue numerous creative projects and to work on his foundation for philanthropic goals. His desire to recognize hard work and excellence, and his appreciation for entrepreneurism and the arts, moved him to give generously to Georgian College. His gift of $50,000 will be used to help extraordinary students take their projects to the next level or help support them as they push forward with their ideas. "I don't believe we do enough to support our creative people. Creativity sparks great ideas. You need to be incredibly creative in order to come up with something world-changing or a new approach to business. To me, creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage," explains Ed. "I find a lot of promising entrepreneurs have great ideas for a product or service but they don't have the necessary resources required to bring them to fruition. It has always been part of my vision to help people achieve their own goals and dreams. These awards can bootstrap or inspire someone to get their ideas off the ground". The Student Entrepreneur of the Year and Creative Student of the Year awards are each worth $5,000 – an impressive amount for students who are just getting started in their ventures. Each award will be given out for five years, with inaugural recipients selected in spring 2022, for a total gift of $50,000 to Georgian students. Alumnus Ed Boutilier (class of 1978)