ResourceYYC Brings Crucial Software to Unemployed Oil Workers

Nestled in a humble nook of 10 Avenue SE in Calgary’s downtown core is a fracking dream come true for the city’s out-of-work oil, gas and energy folks.

ResourceYYC is an incubator created by entrepreneurs Ron Bettin and Bill Scott, which caters directly to those who want to get back into the oil sector with their own business, but lack some vital resources to make it happen.

Namely: expensive software.

“We have people right now who don’t have access to the tools that they need,” said Scott. “It could be upwards of $30,000, $40,000 or $100,000 per year to access the software they need.”

Not only that, but those starting on the ground level don’t always have access to be peer group they need – geologists may not have engineers to talk to, engineers may lack a good land guy.

“By bringing people together in this hub, we’re able to get the access to the tools that they need and to the peer group,” Scott explained. “We’re hoping that will start innovation, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Once a potential oil or energy upstart has applied to ResourceYYC, discussed their needs and costs, they’ll be given desk space or an office and, most importantly, a huge amount of software.

It’s made possible through another venture, Final Frontiers Systems Corp., an IT services group that’s partnered with Microsoft. They’ve managed to create a cloud network secure enough that vendors have been willing to put their software in and provide it for free to people who are in the space and not currently employed.

Once their companies grow and move forward, they’ll be put in touch with the software companies to negotiate new rates from there.

Scott said they love the space, the people in it and are excited to give back to a city experiencing a downturn.

“Calgary’s been so good to us,” he said. “It’s a city where you don’t need a dossier, it doesn’t matter where your parents went to school. If you have a good idea you can pick up the phone and call someone. The entrepreneurial spirit is so alive.”