Former Salmon Arm resident Bob Wells has been recognized for his business acumen and community spirit.
Wells was named by Business in Vancouver as one of B.C.’s “Forty Under 40” of 2011, 40 professionals who are leading the way through their contributions and commitment to the business community.
Wells is president and founder of My Tech Guys, a Courtenay computer sales and service company that makes house calls. He and business partner Scott Swanson started My Tech Guys in 2006.
It was in 1997 that Wells moved back to his hometown of Salmon Arm to start the Silicon Garden Computer Co-op, which was focused on website development and computer training. He spent about a year with the company before heading back to Victoria where his high school sweetheart and now wife, Michelle, was living.
His path then gradually led him to his current and highly successful company, which employs 12 people, has opened a second store, and makes annual sales of $1.8 million. That path included working for several dot-com companies, as head Internet tech at Shaw Cable, and teaching at a private college.
He also is a committed volunteer, donating his time and energy to organizations such as Rotary, the Comox Valley Youth Music Centre, YANA – a non-profit that assists families whose children must be moved for medical care, and ElderCollege.
Wells names Dirk Kiy of Salmon Arm, who died in 2008 of ALS, as his mentor. He notes that Kiy was founder of Pinnacle Youth Works and author of Less is More: Sprinting the Human Race.
He also gives credit to Michelle, his teachers in high school, the local Rotary club that sent him on a youth exchange to South Africa (and his mom who let him go), his friends and his customers.
Although Wells had no formal education in computer technology, he says many hours spent playing video games helped him develop the ability to understand and fix computers.
Wells will receive his award this evening in Vancouver.