PINNGUAQ GROWTH MOVING FULL 'STEAM' AHEAD

THE PINNGUAQ ASSOCIATION, WHICH FOSTERS STEAM (SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ARTS AND MATH) EXCELLENCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY, RECENTLY BOUGHT THE OLD PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING ON PEEL STREET IN LINDSAY

Pinnguaq may be Inuktitut for "play," but the man behind the Pinnguaq Association is not messing around when it comes to the future of STEAM in Lindsay.

The not-for-profit recently acquired the old Public Works building on Peel Street to expand their social enterprise work to the masses.

"Over the next year, we are going to turn this place into the jewel of Lindsay, the jewel of Kawartha Lakes," says Pinnguaq's founder and CEO Ryan Oliver

who grew up in Lindsay, where he whetted his appetite for technology in the computer science program at IE Weldon.

Oliver spent a decade in Nunavut where he established the Pinnguaq Association in 2012, which expanded nationally, bringing STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math) initiatives to people in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, before moving back to Lindsay then opening a second location at 87 Adelaide St. in 2019. All told, Pinnguaq employs more than 80 people, 45 in Kawartha

Lakes, in addition to hosting makerspaces and outreach programs in schools and organizations across the country.

Pinnguaq closed on the three-storey Peel Street building Feb. 17, Oliver told council during the committee of the whole meeting March 7. The move from 1,400 sq. ft. to 13,500 sq. ft. will allow for the creation of three makerspaces, more than 20 offices, podcast and streaming services and expansive collaborative and educational opportunities, not to mention daily Programming for youth and adults.

"All of our Programming is free; we are wellfunded by the federal government," alongside additional funding by the governments of Ontario and Nunavut, says Oliver, explaining that governments will often approach the not-for-profit to deliver programs because of their impressive reach to rural and remote areas.

In the next year Oliver says $1 million will be spent on renovating the Peel Street building, using locally-sourced design and construction. An additional $1 million will be put into Kawartha Lakes Digital Skills

Businesses in the next two years as well as providing more than $500,000 worth of free digital skills Programming through schools and organizations like the Boys and Girls Club over the same period.

Oliver spoke to council to provide an update and seek guidance for how to explore relief options for the approximately $40,000 in annual property taxes for the building and how to initiate zoning and permitting for a bus and car dropoff area and playground. He also expressed an interest in collaboration with the City in tackling local issues like housing.

"A lot of the communities we service ultimately are underserviced in technology in particular. There's sort of this belief that when you want to get into tech you've got to move to Silicon Valley or you've got to move to Toronto or Vancouver at the minimum. Our goal is to keep people in their communities, keep the dollars they earn in the communities, keep their ability to stay connected to their families," says Oliver.

Pinnguaq not only provides free educational opportunities and resources, but also mentorship and employment opportunities while creating apps, games, websites and experiences to shrink the industry and make it more accessible to people in the community.

"There is no reason a small community can't be a centre for technology development in this country and Lindsay, without us realizing it, has already done it," says Oliver, noting that people from the area are already involved in almost every lucrative area of the technology market and that Pinnguaq plans to highlight with a Hall of Fame so the next generation of creators can celebrate those stories.

"That's an incredibly powerful thing for kids growing up in this community."