MindTrust Inc. was founded last month by Claude Haw (Venture Coaches), Debbie Weinstein (LaBarge Weinstein), Jim Harmon (Ray & Berndtson Robertson Surrette), Danny Osadca (Osadca Group) and Don Hewson (Hewson Bridge + Smith), as a forum for local CEOs to talk freely about their problems.

Despite its Silicon Valley North moniker, the city's technology sector has long been criticized for not having enough management expertise to lead it into Silicon Valley status. Haw, who chairs MindTrust, says the initiative is intended to help answer those critics.

"The intent is to grow from within. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring in people from the outside (to run companies in Ottawa), but the main objective is to help local CEOs get better at their jobs,” he says.

Weinstein, a fellow MindTrust founder, agrees with Haw.

"Absolutely, one of the things each of us perceived in starting this up was that this city could use broader, deeper management skills,” she says.

The group meets at the Holiday Inn Select in Kanata on the first Friday of every month, with the exception of January and August. To date, 58 members have been welcomed into the fold, but MindTrust intends to cap its membership at 75. Membership is restricted to CEOs of high-tech companies. A mix of public and private companies is represented, with most of the private companies being of the more mature variety. Annual membership dues are $600. There are no service providers or venture capitalists allowed, while former high-tech chief execs like former Extreme Packet Devices CEO Bruce Gregory are allowed to join. (Gregory is now with Kodiak Venture Partners.)

The format of each meeting allows for a fair bit of networking, while guest speakers provide the main attraction. The group's first speaker was Mike Unger, the former president of the Nortel Networks optical networks business unit. He was followed by Mosaid Technologies' CEO George Cwynar. Next month will see AiT's Bernie Ashe take to the podium.

Panel discussions examining big-picture topics, such as the potential ramifications of a North American currency, are slated to begin in July. It's this kind of big-picture guidance local CEOs need more of, says Weinstein.

"We want to tackle some of the bigger things CEOs don't necessarily have time to think about on their own, but maybe collectively we can come up with some ideas,” she explains.

The monthly meetings could add to a support structure for CEOs, which already includes the OCRI Technology Executive Breakfasts (TEBs) and tech veteran Michael Caughey's Technology Venture Dinners (TVDs).

The TEBs are attended by senior and middle management, as well as by representatives of the financing, professional services and media communities. The audience is much more focused at the TVDs, but there are still venture capitalists and service professionals at the event. It's not that there is anything wrong with that, says Haw, but it doesn't provide a forum in which CEOs can be 100 per cent open

"It serves a need for executives and venture capitalists to get together, but they can't really let their hair down about the problems they're facing. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot in front of the VCs,” he says.

Some of MindTrust's notable members include Rod Bryden (World Heart Corp.), Rick White (Solidum Systems), Antoine Paquin (formerly with Bitflash Inc.) and Lance Laking (BTI Photonics).

Laking, who joined the rank of local chief executives one year ago, is hoping he can glean some pearls of wisdom from his elder peers. And although he does not agree with the criticism that Ottawa lacks management expertise, he values the MindTrust initiative.

"I'm a relatively new kid on the block at the game of president and CEO, especially for an emerging type of company,” says Laking. "I think I can really see a benefit uplift from some of the other folks that have joined the MindTrust organization.”