WINnovating the tech industry

By Sam Sinclair

With companies such as Quicken Loans and Shopivo opening headquarters in Windsor there is no denying that the city is becoming an impressive tech hub.

There is a growing interest in the tech industry in the city especially with the prominence of the WEtech organization and with the increase in popularity of robotics clubs in the area. Yvonne Pilon, president and CEO of WEtech, is excited that high school students are taking a serious interest in all things tech.

“Tech talent is the biggest asset a city can have,” said Pilon. “For our industries to grow we need tech talent, so if you go back 10 years ago or even five years ago, we had one local high school robotics team. We now have 20.”

Pilon believes that Windsor is already a tech hub, but that people are not focused on the right kind of tech.

“When people think of technology traditionally, they think of Facebook and Google and apps and software. When we think of tech, it includes anything from advanced manufacturing to automation robotics,” said Pilon. “When we say Windsor will be a tech hub, we already are a tech hub, we already have innovation roots. We’re just growing on that.”

Local businesses, such as Hackforge on Ouellette Avenue, are proof that there is interest and a desire to be involved with tech. Hackforge is an event space geared towards professionals and hobbyists in the tech industry. Katie Facecchia, president of Hackforge, said the business was started at a non-conference.

“Somebody brought up ‘hey there’s no space for likeminded individuals around the tech community to get together and chat and talk and see what’s going on,’” said Facecchia. “What we offer most really is the networking opportunity. There’s interest groups across the board.”

Although there is the interest and drive in the community there is still the belief that Windsor does not have any tech jobs. AlphaKOR is a local IT company that specializes in infrastructure, custom software and website development. Frank Abbruzzese, president of AlphaKOR, and Pilon say the jobs exist.

“The stigma is there, the negativity is there and there’s a lot of players that are working on removing that. There are a lot of jobs,” said Abbruzzese. “There are a lot of opportunities, they’re very competitive.”

“If you look specifically at the Information Communication Technologies sector we have 3,500 workers locally,” Pilon said.

Quicken Loans coming to Windsor was a definite point of interest for Abbruzzese.

“Quicken Loans investing in Windsor is a huge sign,” said Abbruzzese. “We’re going to find people are going to move from outside this region and they’re going to be a part of what we’ve been doing.  They’re going to be a catalyst for an American office to move to Windsor with technology which is kind of cool and others are going to follow”

Abbruzzese has advice for those looking to join the tech industry.

“Build your network, go to events. In Windsor and Essex County were very, very fortunate. Attend events, there’s a lot of opportunities to attend networking events to meet people,” said Abbruzzese.

It might be time to acknowledge that Windsor is already an impressive tech hub.