PLATO Testing of Fredericton won the Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI) pitch competition last week at aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin Canada’s IMPACT Centre. It was one of six Indigenous businesses from New Brunswick in the competition.

The Indigenous-staffed software testing firm affiliated with PQA Testing won a $5,000 cash prize for taking first place at the 2018 JEDI Indigenous Business Pitch Competition.

Chelsea Griffith, a team lead and software tester at PLATO, said in an interview prior to the announcement that the company will focus on expanding.

“The main thing that PLATO’s looking to do is to keep expanding because we’re looking to have 1,000 software testers. So we’re looking for opportunities and partnerships to expand and bring more aboriginal people into IT and to STEM,” she said.

Griffith said the company, which already has around 65 employees across Canada, also wants to explore opportunities with companies like Lockheed Martin. . . .

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