ESTEVAN — The Estevan TechHub, located at the Estevan Innovation Centre at 403A Ninth Ave., is now fully operational and invites the community to join them for a programming in English course.
The course will consist of four classes, taking place at the Estevan TechHub and online on Sept. 15, 22, 29 and Oct. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. The course will help local people turn their innovative ideas into real working projects.
The course was developed and will be led by Gordon More, originally from Vancouver with 16 years of experience in creating and running a successful multinational software company IDS, who relocated to Estevan this year and finds the community inspiring and full of opportunities, especially if tech is your thing.
Introducing Gordon More
At least once this summer, you probably ran into the friendly man who's been flying a drone at Estevan-area events. His videos, making Estevan shine, have been appearing on social media for a few months now.
He wears many hats.
His passion for videography is one, but his experience in software and technology is something Estevan has already benefitted from.
More has been designing software and mobile applications since 2005. His passion is to find solutions to complex issues with elegance and simplicity. He led the team that provided one of the first GPS tracking and delivery mobile applications before the iPhone even existed. His work improves security and efficiency in the U.S. for the pharmaceutical industry, brings ease to reverse logistics in Australia and overcomes the extremes of Canada's Artic.
More moved to Estevan in January from Vancouver. At that time, he was still running his software company, but working from home didn't feel right for him. So he started looking at where he could apply his knowledge and experience in Estevan.
"I saw an article with Roy [Ludwig], the mayor, in [the Mercury], talking about how he's looking for ways to diversify the economy. And I was like, wow. So I sent him an email saying, 'Hey, I just moved here and I own a software company. And I know there's a lot of people who want to get out of Vancouver, and I assume Toronto and Montreal as well, to get to a calmer, quieter, more affordable [place],'" recalled More, adding that cost of living in the city was so high that, even though his wife is a doctor and he was running a successful software company, it wasn't easy for his family.
He met with Ludwig and city manager Jeff Ward and shared his vision for Estevan and its potential to become a tech hub. He eventually was offered the role of mentor at the Estevan TechHub, which already existed but wasn't launched yet. It eventually turned into a full-time job, in which his role is to help people get their software and tech ideas off the ground.
And the programming in English course is one of the first steps in this journey.
Programming in English, what is it?
Have you ever said to yourself, "I have the best idea. I could create this idea, but I don't know how"? Then a few years later you see your idea making someone a millionaire.
Free programming in English is the course that will help people of southeast Saskatchewan get their ideas going.
"I want those millionaires to happen here," More said.
The program will look at if the idea has a big enough market so that the creator can make money from it. More is going to teach participants to research to prove and define their ideas. He will also talk about how to write a scope document that explains, in plain English, exactly what an app or software program will do, which will allow people to effectively communicate with a programmer or engineer.
The program is developed for an average person and has no requirements or limitations in the sense of special knowledge, age or programming skills.
More plans to offer this course several times, and if someone can't make it for the course, they can just come to the Estevan TechHub and talk to More about their ideas.
"I'm here Monday to Friday, and we can go through it," More said.
To register for the course, please email the TechHub at techhub@estevan.ca
Hold on, what's Estevan TechHub?
Estevan TechHub was launched in May as part of the renewed Southeast Innovation Business Development Centre, which is an umbrella for various business support initiatives, aimed at growing and diversifying Estevan's economy amid the forced changes in the local coal power industry.
At the launch, More got to meet students from St. Mary's School who presented their innovative ideas, developed within the frames of their curriculum. He was "blown away" by the kids' visions.
"But what's next for these kids? Nothing. They go to the Comp., and that program doesn't exist anymore. But these kids need something," More recalled.
He first started working with TechHub to use his knowledge and passion for innovations and technology to help Estevan kids grow in that field. But once he retired from his software company, he was ready to take over more responsibilities with TechHub.
"They have a plan created by Sask INC … but they needed someone to make it operational. So I said ... I'll make it operational," More said.
He noticed that in Estevan and Saskatchewan in general, there is a strong innovative thread. People find new technical solutions and tools to solve problems they run into and overcome them moving on, yet people often don't call it innovations.
"If I said to them, you've been innovative, they probably say no, but that is innovation. And there's this natural thread here," More said.
At the same time, he also noticed that a lot of people don't have knowledge of what to do with their ideas and don't know how to turn them into something they can sell. That's where TechHub steps in. Outside of properly formulating the idea, TechHub provides other opportunities and works in several different directions.
"The TechHub exists for a number of reasons. One, if you want to understand how to market [your software or tech idea], sell it, distribute it, how to find a programmer or an engineer, I can set you up with all, I can help continue on with that.
"The other part of the TechHub is education. The education part is advocacy, as well as teaching. Advocacy meaning working with Agnes [Garrioch, St. Mary's School Grade 8 teacher, spearheading their innovation conference] and the vice-principal, working with Tania [Hlohovsky Andrist, interim director, strategic development at Southeast College] and John Williams [a board member from Estevan] at the college," More said.
“And hopefully, talk to the Comp. [Our goal is] to advocate to have software, and coding as an option for the young kids, the teenagers and the adults. That's going to take time.
"In the meantime, Jeff Sandquist … when he was with Microsoft, he had created a program called e-Learning. It's a really good course. … So if your school doesn't offer the courses yet, or you just want to learn yourself online, you can come in, I'll set you up with e-Learning, or we've got a few laptops that you can use here."
More currently has one person, who recently graduated from the University of Regina in computer science, helping at TechHub. He is looking for more people who have an education in computer science and want to help out.
TechHub also provides facilities, such as a learning or brainstorming area, a quiet workspace with really fast internet, a board room available for rent for when people are ready to make their ideas further and hold official meetings with people needed along the way such as investors, and more. Located in the same building, Estevan Economic Development and Estevan Business Start-Up are also available to help with other aspects of starting and running a business.
The support Estevan TechHub offers is free of charge.
Does Estevan really have potential to become tech hub?
The short answer is yes, More said, and there are several layers to it.
More sees many benefits Estevan has, and affordability for life and business in comparison to bigger cities is just one of them.
"The reality of what the big city is about beyond the fun and the food, is you start to realize, especially when you go to have kids, that you have a choice: you can either have a mortgage or you can have a family. You can't have both in the cities anymore. Where Estevan still offers that," More said, adding that, unlike bigger places, the community is also safer for raising a family.
The natural tendency to be problem-solvers he observed among people here, who usually don't call the solutions they find innovations, is a big side of that potential as well.
"It comes to this thread that I started to notice. People won't use the word innovative, but it is in this community. So if you have that, and then you add an education layer on top of that, then you start building a base, where some people who are local, will start that path and stay here instead of leaving, and then we'll just build from there," More explained.
Geographical location with close proximity to the U.S. – the world's largest economy – is another asset Estevan has.
"To be successful on the sales side, you need to take your product to the States. And it's right there. I know that's North Dakota, but you can go to Minot, and you're done. That is huge. And if you're up in Saskatoon, it's not so easy," More explained.
Also, the set-up of the community, which is quieter than big cities, but also has a lot to offer year-round, is beneficial for those working in software and technology.
And if anyone is skeptical about Estevan's potential to indeed become a tech hub, More suggested checking out the history of Kamloops, B.C.
"Go talk to the people who were in charge of Kamloops in the 80s. When the mine was shut down, the pulp mill shut down, there was nothing to do. It was just ranting. And that was that. Now look at the place. So you can be ‘I give up’? Or you can go for it," More said.
More was supposed to be one of the speakers at the first Estevan Innovation Conference in September, but it was announced Sept. 8 that the conference was cancelled.
