Almost a year after the unexpected death of Provincial Networking Group Inc.’s co-founder, Chris Arnold, the employment services advocate is planning to move forward under new ownership.
“Instead of going into a negative place out of the loss, which was very difficult, we all gathered together and said ‘Let’s do this,’” says Kristie Ebeling, the prospective new owner.
Ebeling is PNGI’s program director and is involved in the process of taking over ownership of the company from Arnold’s best friend, who lives in Kamloops. Ebeling says she is still working through the steps but expects the transfer will be complete soon.
“It’s little things that are popping up, and I feel for the sellers because Chris’ wife and best friend just want to finish this,” she says.
Arnold was an advocate for people living with physical and mental barriers, and established PNGI with Marg Anderson in 1992. The company’s offices in Terrace and Kitimat have provided training and consulting services to those living with developmental disabilities for over 10 years.
Since his sudden passing last November, PNGI is working to move forward under new ownership.
“There’s been a huge, steep learning curve for all of us, we’ve all had to take our pieces on. But everyone on the team is amazing, talented and committed, and they cared about Chris.”
READ MORE: PNGI founder Chris Arnold passes away at 48
PNGI has restarted their training workshops, is offering one-on-one coaching with their Life Skills program and will eventually be moving in a direction that would open up their services to more people.
“I want to turn PNGI into an agency that can be responsive to any person. Life-coaching is such a huge thing right now, but I see it differently,” she says. “My staff do coaching every day, [but] they only do it with one population. I would like to be able to empower anyone that comes through this door.”
Ebeling says PNGI will start to expand their reach with “empowerment workshops” in January, with vision board classes and team building exercises as the next step.
“There are going to be workshops for every person — four nights that will be a journey through ‘finding you,’ and then empowering you,” Ebeling says.
The classes and support training programs range in price, though Ebeling says the company is working on creating affordable options.
For more information about upcoming programs or updates from PNGI, visit their Facebook page.
Correction: An earlier online version of this story incorrectly read PNGI founder Chris Arnold passed last December. He passed November 24. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
brittany@terracestandard.com
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