Bruce Firestone (born December 4, 1951) of Ottawa, Ontario, is a real estate developer, former sports team owner and university professor. He is the founder of the modern-day

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

club and former part-owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

football club.

Business career

Dr. Firestone received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from McGill University in Montréal; his Master of Engineering-Science (Traffic and Transportation) from the University of New South Wales in Sydney and his PhD in Urban Economics from the Australian National University in Canberra. After graduating from university in Australia, Firestone joined the family firm Terrace Developments in the early 1980s. Along with developing commercial properties, Firestone also launched a business newspaper in Ottawa and built several buildings in downtown Ottawa and in Bells Corners. When the NHL announced that it was interested in expanding in the late 1980s, Firestone, then president of Terrace Investments, formed an organization to win an NHL franchise for Ottawa. Firestone's vision was to use the club as the centerpiece of a new commercial development to the west of the City of Ottawa. A new arena would be built, increasing land values in the surrounding area to the point where the expected franchise fee of $30 million US dollars (it would actually be $50 million) could be raised through land sales and commercial development fees and profits. Firestone's group was successful in winning a new franchise, along with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, on condition that the franchise would build a new arena to NHL standards. The arena location, on undeveloped farmland, was controversial and opposition grew against the paving over of the farmland. Eventually, the government agency responsible for local development allowed the development of the arena but not the surrounding lands. As well, as part of the development agreement for the new arena, then known as the

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

, the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

required that the corporation pay for all of the required infrastructure, including a freeway interchange. These conditions led to the search for new financing. The search led to the turnover of the ownership of the Ottawa Senators to a partnership led by

Rod Bryden Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to: Devices * Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment * Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority * Connecting rod, main, coupling, ...

. Bryden was able to arrange financing of the development through a partnership with Ogden Entertainment and Bruce left to allow the franchise to continue. After leaving the Senators organization, Firestone became chairman and part-owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian Football League football team. After one year with the organization it was sold to

Horn Chen Horn Chen (July 22, 1932 – December 7, 2015) was an American businessman and minor league sports entrepreneur. He was the founder of the Central Hockey League, which began to play in 1992. Chen was also a minority owner of the Columbus Blue Jacke ...

and Firestone returned to real estate development. In 2004, Firestone founded Exploriem.org, a registered Canadian Not-For-Profit Professional Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs Organization. He is the executive director of the organization which helps entrepreneurs and start-ups get a foothold in the local business community through business model competitions, funding, mentoring, and providing free office space. Exploriem is also partnered with OCRI (Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation),

Algonquin College Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upst ...

, Lead to Win and others within the Ottawa business community. Firestone was an entrepreneur-in-residence at the

Telfer School of Management The Telfer School of Management (''French: École de gestion Telfer)'' is a business school located at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is named in honour of one university alumnus, Ian Telfer (MBA 1976), who made ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and is a commercial real estate agent. As well he has written th
Entrepreneurs Handbook
which is a guide to help entrepreneurs get started using the bootstrap method and starting with a good business model.

Awards

* 2012 -

Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du sport d'Ottawa) is a hall of fame dedicated to recognizing athletes and sportspeople associated with Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Ottawa City Hall and includes over 270 ...

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20100620190453/http://ocri.ca/exploriem/ *http://www.telfer.uottawa.ca/en *https://web.archive.org/web/20120312131544/http://www.eqjournal.org/Launch-of-the-Ottawa-Business-News-15-april-1986.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Firestone, Bruce 1951 births Living people Businesspeople from Ottawa National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners Ottawa Rough Riders owners Ottawa Senators executives Sportspeople from Ottawa

Business career

Awards

See also

References

External links