Don Ricci starts new computer consulting business

Ken Johnston

After 30 years of teaching in the public school system, Don Ricci of Rainy River, decided to retire last spring. However, to him, “The word ‘retirement’, just means changing jobs.”
Ricci, whose family founded the Rainy River Record in 1919, has had entrepreneur in its blood for three generations. To him, that has always been simmering in his veins.
“I have always wanted to own my own business,” said Ricci. However, at one time he was feeling like stepping into the family run business might be for him, and then teaching came along and it seemed to fit his lifestyle better. “I enjoyed having the summers off with my family.”
As his teaching career progressed he eventually found himself teaching at the high school level. One of the courses he taught in the past few years of his career was entrepreneurial studies. “Teaching them (students) to develop business plans, I found myself wanting to get into business more and more.”
So when he retired he decided to pursue that want. This week he is launching his website, www.riverimage.ca. That will be the headliner for his business, River Image, which will take from his 30 year career and from his interest in computers and offer various services to the residents of the west Rainy River District.
Primarily Ricci is interested in helping people learn to operate a computer. “There are many people out there who do not even know how to turn them on.”
With his extensive teaching background and the fact that he has been the system administrator at the Sturgeon Creek Alternative Program School in Stratton for five years, he feels that he will have the right approach to making people who are not computer literate feel comfortable learning on them. Eventually he feels most of those people will become comfortable and well enough versed to use the internet and email as well as any other functions of computers they want to learn.
At present Ricci is providing this service to 21 adults at Rainy River High School as part of a free computer course being offered after hours. However he is willing to teach individuals one on one or small groups of 3-5 people. “People will get a better deal if there are more than one of them.”
In addition to the teaching aspect of his business he is also offering to create multi-media presentations, design and maintain (if required) websites, set up computers, transfer slides/photos to digital formats, some printing and design, restore old photos, bookkeeping and home inventory.
The last one involves he and his wife Lou, going into a person’s home, taking digital photos of all the contents of a person’s home and putting them on a disk for them for insurance replacement purposes. “Maureen (Downs of Gillons’ Insurance) said that many people are vastly underinsured for the contents of their homes.”
Ricci said that he really enjoys helping people solve problems or learn new skills and that is what he is looking forward to with River Image.
At 53, he does not see hanging up his work hat for at least another decade. At that time, “maybe I will look at going south to play golf in the winter.”
Ricci offers to meet computer needs with a personal touch at a fair rate and to “make computing fun!”
His services are available to all residents of the Rainy River District and more information can be found at his website or by calling him or Lou at 852-3704.