General Business Updates and News

[rangersfan]

Wilfrid Laurier received a big shot in the arm from Mr. Lazaridis this past week:


http://m.therecord.com/news-story/583190...-lazaridis

[KingandWeber]

From today's Globe and Mail:

Shopify, Google boosting presence in BlackBerry’s hometown

"Canada’s newest tech darling Shopify, which went public this year and is valued at $2.75-billion, will soon announce a major expansion in the region, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The sources, who asked not to be named as the plans have not yet been made public, said the e-commerce facilitator has just leased space in Waterloo that would let it boost its presence from about 20 people to potentially a few hundred in the region."

Apparently Shopify has leased the CIGI building. Seems like exciting news for Waterloo.

[panamaniac]

That would be a big expansion locally for Shopify. Great news!

[Brenden]

Shopify expansion in Waterloo Region to employ 300

Citing the “amazing talent pool” in Waterloo Region, Shopify is undertaking an ambitious expansion of its local operations, including a 300-employee office in the former Seagram Museum/CIGI building in Waterloo’s core.

The new facility, to be occupied in April 2016, will enable a tenfold increase in the local footprint of the Ottawa-based e-commerce giant, which currently employs 30 at a sales lab that opened about a year ago in Kitchener’s Lang Tannery.

With about 800 employees split among Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Waterloo Region, Shopify has become Canada’s hottest technology company, with a market capitalization of $2.8 billion. That’s more than double its value at the time of its initial public offering of shares just over four months ago.

[rangersfan]

The CTV article on the Shopify expansion also added these nice developments:
http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/shopi...-1.2590020

Other large companies have been ramping up their presence in the Waterloo region in the wake of widespread layoffs at smartphone company BlackBerry over the past few years.

TD Bank said Wednesday it would beef up its local staff by adding more than 120 jobs over the next year dedicated to improving digital platforms for its clients.

Earlier this month, news and data company Thomson Reuters announced plans to open a research space in Waterloo where it would experiment with new ways to deliver information to its customers.

[rangersfan]

So does CIGI no longer use the space or they use only a fraction of the building?

[Brenden]

So does CIGI no longer use the space or they use only a fraction of the building?

The building has been empty for a while now and has been up for lease.

[numberguy]

So does CIGI no longer use the space or they use only a fraction of the building?

CIGI moved over to the newer Basillie School building, next door in 2014. Whitney's been looking for a tenant since then. There were some complications regarding tenant type, I believe: the property has a property tax exemption from Queen's Park. Also, the outdoor parking is still City of Waterloo land, so there may have been some negotiations regarding that as well.

The Balsillie School had the law school ixnayed, so I suppose that there was ample room to have CIGI and the Balsillie School share the same newer building.

[DHLawrence]

I was always under the impression that the Seagram building was still part of the campus alongside the new building. At least it's not going to waste.

[KevinL]

I would note this is not the first time a technology company has been based from that building; it was the headquarters of Waterloo Maple (aka MapleSoft) for a number of years between its time as the Seagram Museum, and before CIGI moved in.

[panamaniac]

I've been away on vacation for a while - has anyone heard whether the Region is pitching for the plant that GM is moving from the USA? It occurs to me that the Lear plant in Kitchener, for example, is soon to be empty and could accommodate such a manufacturing facility.

[Elmira Guy]

Why was my post about COM DEV possibly being for sale deleted?

I can't find it anywhere.

[notmyfriends]

You put it in the startup district thread:

http://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/s...6#pid12426

[Elmira Guy]

Oh. That was a dumb place for me to put it.
Thank you.

Here it is.

COM DEV for sale?

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/d...rm-com-dev.

[rangersfan]

Plum, wins $250,000 in investment funding.
http://m.therecord.com/news-story/606273...ompetition