You are perhaps already familiar the story of how Protocase came to be in 2001. Our co-founders, engineers Doug Milburn and Steve Lilley, were chatting with a fellow engineer wanted to save time and money by finding one facility that would manufacture a small number of custom electronic enclosures for a project he was doing. When they realized nobody was really interested in this kind of work, they set out to build a business themselves. Sixteen years later, the business they created is a major success, supplying custom enclosures and parts for our more than 12,000 scientists and engineers worldwide.

One thing that hasn’t changed since Protocase began is Steve and Doug’s commitment to helping to build the Cape Breton community. The company now employs 127 people (and counting) with full-time careers in production, engineering and design services, sales, R&D and administration, each one building a life here in Cape Breton.

But what I’m most proud of is Protocase’s commitment to enriching the community that lies beyond our company’s doors. Management was a bit hesitant to proclaim this far and wide – it’s not in our nature to be particularly boastful, or claim that what we’re doing is anything revolutionary. But at a time like this, when we need all the good news stories we can get, I felt it important to explain Protocase’s philosophy for community giving, highlight the organizations we’re proud to support, and challenge other local companies to give back.

Our Three Pillars of Community Giving

In an ideal world, we would be able to support each and every cause that comes our way. To make sure our support actually makes an impact in making the community a better place, Protocase focuses on endeavours within three key areas:

• Technology & Innovation
• Arts, Culture & Sport
• Youth

Technology & Innovation

Technology and innovation, as you can imagine, is a very logical fit. Every day, we work with innovators, designers and engineers all over the globe, assisting them as they develop new products that are changing the world, so Protocase takes great pride in giving assistance to students passionate in technology.

Sometimes our tech sponsorships are local to Cape Breton, such as a donation to a Learn to Code event, manufacturing custom projects for high school tech education classes, or sponsoring the annual Marcato Hackathon. Often, our support of technology and innovation means sponsoring university teams across North America and beyond, by providing custom-manufactured metal components, parts and enclosures for their projects. The biggest example of this, of course, is sponsoring the University Rover Challenge for three years running, wherein we provide the competition $10,000, as well as give each of the 80+ teams competing worldwide with a $2,000 discount for custom-manufactured parts for their Mars Rover design.

Other technology and innovation organizations we support: Dalhousie FSAE, Team 2994: The Aztechz, Virginia Tech’s TREX Team, Alerion Baja ULaval, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, Inveneo Design Challenge and more.

Arts, Culture & Sport

You might argue that arts, culture and sport is an awfully broad category – and you are right. But by keeping it wide in scope, we can support a slew of organizations and events that touch different aspects of arts and culture. Steve and Doug are longtime supporters in Cape Breton’s arts and culture scene, as those events do wonders for bringing the community together. And so it’s with great pride that we support events such as Lumiere and Pathway to Employment’s Hot Soup Cool Jazz. For the past three years, Protocase has purchased tickets for the Highland Arts Theatre’s superb seasonal lineup of theatre. It’s a win-win – we can support local theatre while also treating our employees to a show.

Similar to arts and culture, sport only makes our community a richer, healthier place, with many lessons learned about what it takes to win, and how to be gracious in defeat. Steve, Doug and pretty much the entire Protocase team are all involved in sport of some kind in their downtime, whether playing in hockey, basketball or softball leagues, or cheering on their kids. We’re proud to support sport by sponsoring local tournaments (often by providing custom trophies), such as the Simon Chiasson Alumni basketball tournament. We’re also known to have a staff team compete in active-living events like Spring Into Motion, the Cape Breton Dragonboat Festival and the Because You Care Cup. Finally, we love treating our staff to a night out to see the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles play.  

Other organizations in arts, culture and sport that we support:  Celtic Colours International Festival, Cape Breton Music Industry Cooperative, Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association, Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Run and more.

Youth

When it comes to supporting Cape Breton youth, there is a cause that is near (literally) and dear to Protocase’s heart – the Whitney Pier Youth Club (WPYC). Our friendship with the club dates back to 2008. The club is our neighbor, located just a few minutes away from our headquarters in Harbourside Industrial Park and our newest space at the corner of Victoria Road and Prince Street. But beyond the proximity, the Whitney Pier Youth Club is a no-brainer for us to support – executive director Chester Borden, along with his team, have created a vital space for young people in his community, wherein they can socialize, develop important life skills and be active. We’re proud to have helped WPYC raise the funds necessary to build its new club over the past two years through internal company fundraisers with weekly BBQs and raffles, and contribute to help cover ongoing expenses.

Other youth-oriented organizations we support:  Undercurrent Youth Centre Sydney and The Vital Cape Breton Excellence Awards

How to Request Support

While we’ll keep supporting the causes and events we have in the past, I invite other organizations directly involved within the realms of technology, arts, culture, sport and youth, to approach us for community support.

Email [email protected] with your request. Make sure to include all of the necessary details: specifics about the event or cause, who it will help, and how we can support it. One caution: when it comes to silent auctions, we don’t have much to donate for prizes – we have Protocase merchandise (such as hats, t-shirts and water bottles), but that’s about it.

Your funding request will go to our community giving committee for review, and we’ll aim to get back to you within a week. We can’t support every request that we receive, though we'll try our best. 

Your Challenge

My goal with this article wasn’t to brag about what we do to help enrich the community, or fish for kudos. For one, I wanted to explain the philosophy behind our community giving, showcase some of the awesome causes that we’re proud to support, and also invite local organizations to approach us if they are a good fit within our three community pillars.

But beyond that, I wanted to put out a challenge to others.

To all citizens of Cape Breton, I challenge you to get involved in the local community by volunteering your time and/or donating money to one of the many, many organizations looking for support. I am so proud of our own employees who give up their precious free time to sit on community boards and help organize local events. Here are just a few of the organizations with which Protocase employees volunteer their time:

• MentorConnect
• Baddeck Volunteer Fire Department
• Simon Chiasson Alumni Basketball Tournament
• Dobson Yacht Club
• Seawall Trail Association
• NextGen Cape Breton
• Northside Community Pool
• CBMIC
• Pathways to Employment Cape Breton
• New Dawn Enterprises
• Cantley Village Recreation Association, and many more!

To local businesses – if you’re not already, I challenge you to please consider giving back to the community in a way that fits within your company. Find the causes that make you and your employees feel energized about making the community a better place, and support them however works best for your business. You won’t regret it.