Today at TECTERRA, we’re announcing a new vision and mission concentrated on philanthropic programs with a focus in community, learning, and growth in the geospatial industry workforce. We have adapted our programs to grow geospatial in areas like youth, community and academia.
Our Impact to Date
To date we’ve supported 296 companies who have collectively gone on to create $174M in revenue and over 2,498 jobs. In total, the projects supported by TECTERRA have created $433M in Actual Economic Impact which is forecast to continue growing to over $519M by March 2025.
A large part of our success has been the zero-interest loan model which provided funding to companies and helped them take a chance on innovative new technology. Now, it is through repayments from the successful companies that we can offer new programs and to continue supporting the geospatial community in Alberta. While we are no longer investing in new company-led projects we still have a number of BUILD projects underway and are excited to see the results from each and every company that we have supported.
Looking to the Future
The first new program is a community oriented youth program. TECTERRA will work with existing youth-focused organizations to co-build programs that assist the youth to build geospatial thinking and skills. We hope that by empowering youth early to understand the spatial connections in the world around them that they will have stronger geospatial skills and abilities throughout their life.
To date we have partnered with the YMCA Camp Chief Hector on a wilderness orienteering program for youth ages 14-16 to be hosted at Camp Chief Hector west of Calgary. We are continuing to work with other youth-oriented groups in Alberta to build out unique programs in support of geospatial thinking.
Our second new program is aimed at post-secondary institutions and providing support for students seeking an education in Geomatics, Geospatial, and or Geography. The TECTERRA Geomatics Bursary is currently available to four post-secondaries in Alberta including the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, SAIT, and NAIT.
This program is a one-time contribution of $100,000 per institution for a five-year program which provides full tuition, books, and fees for between two and three students in the final years of their program.
The award is based on financial need, academic standing, and has a preference for students who are probable future entrepreneurs. TECTERRA is excited to support the next generation of students who are pursuing a career in geomatics, geospatial, or geography and we believe that this award will lead to the continued growth of the geospatial industry in Alberta and Canada.