The Kitchener-based innovation hub Communitech is laying off workers following cuts to their funding from the province.
The company that helps start-ups and small businesses say they’ve been working with the government for what their investments would be.
Now it’s been determined it’s not as much as they had hoped.
“It’s a 30 per cent reduction in provincial investment,” said Communitech Chief Strategy Officer Avvey Peters. “This is essentially a 10 per cent reduction in our overall budget.”
This translates into two million dollars in funding.
Communitech says after reviewing programs and making changes to be more efficient, the layoffs were limited to 15 positions primarily in marketing, financial, and administrative roles.
“It certainly has been a difficult week for the team,” said Peters. “There’s 15 really talented folks’ we’ve had to part ways with.”
The cuts come two weeks after the federal government announced and $18 million investment for Communitech.
Mallory Mckewen, the founder of Kitchener-based bridsmade.ca, says in that Commuitech was 100 per cent responsible for how she got her business off the ground.
“I’ve seen over the past few years how many business that now have five employees, 10, 17, 30, 300, that were born out of those sort of ecosystems,” she said.
Communitech says they will work with the 15 affected employees to find local jobs.
