Tech minds often have a tough go if it in the B.C. Interior, says Jeff Keen.
“The Okanagan has always been known as a great place to kind of hang out in the summertime, and enjoy the beaches and the nice weather. But it always hasn’t been known as a great place to start a company,” said the president of the Kelowna-based tech firm, Get in the Loop.
But he expects those business difficulties to dissipate once construction of the Okanagan Centre for Innovation (OCI) is completed in 2016.
The province announced July 28 it would invest $6 million in the $35-million project, which is set to break ground later this summer. This comes after Kelowna city council approved the development permit for the OCI on July 18.
The city and the province will each own a piece of the state-of-the-art facility where entrepreneurs, students and emerging companies will be able to rub elbows and collaborate at a minimal cost.
Meanwhile, the 106,000-square-foot centre is designed to house Fortune 100 companies, high-growth firms, economic development experts and investors with access to capital.
“None of these places that we’ve ever come across have put the whole ecosystem under one roof,” said Keen, who is also a spokesman for the OCI.
While many successful individuals in the tech industry may own vacation homes in the Okanagan, Keen said he hopes many of them will drop in on the innovation hub and find the community is worth investing in.
This would have the added benefit of developing jobs for students studying technology-related fields at Okanagan College and the University of B.C. Okanagan.
“With any bourgeoning high-tech community where companies are starting and growing, you need access to talent,” he said.
“Part of the benefits of this project is to create those high-paying jobs for those grads who say, ‘Hey, I don’t need to leave the Okanagan to get a great job.’”
