Hootsuite lays off 20 Vancouver employees
Hootsuite has laid off 20 of its Vancouver employees in what it calls a “global reorganization.” The burgeoning startup declined to comment on how the changes would affect its head count at other offices across the world.
But the Vancouver-based social media management company, which has more than 10 million customers worldwide, said it plans to hire 100 more people in 2016 as part of this restructuring.
Rumours Hootsuite was preparing for an initial public offering ramped up earlier in the year when it hired its first chief financial officer in October, poaching Sujeet Kini from OpenText.
Hootsuite, founded in 2008, is one of the few Vancouver startups to reach a valuation of more than $1 billion.
B.C. government’s $100m venture capital fund takes aim at startups
Victoria has announced it is establishing a $100 million venture capital fund to help boost B.C.’s startup scene.
Premier Christy Clark said the province would hire a private-sector fund manager to manage the fund of funds, expected to launch in mid-2016.
“We don’t want to be influencing [the selection of startups], except that we want them to be in British Columbia and we want the fund manager to have a managing partner based in B.C.,” she said.
The BC Technology Industry Association had long been pitching such a fund, according to CEO Bill Tam.
“To make sure we have the next generation of the Hootsuites, the Avigilons, the BuildDirects, now is the time to invest,” he told Business in Vancouver, adding that one of the biggest challenges for the province’s tech startup scene is the lack of venture capital on the West Coast.
B.C. liquor store owners want to sell legal marijuana
B.C. liquor store workers want to stock and sell legalized recreational pot in government shops in time for Christmas 2016.
The BC Government and Service Employees’ Union and the BC Private Liquor Store Association have announced they are forming the Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of BC to push the government to allow them to sell cannabis.
The new advocacy group said the age-controlled shops would provide an ideal environment to sell the drug once it’s been legalized by Ottawa.
Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election promise to legalize cannabis, both the federal and provincial governments said it was too early to speculate on the viability of selling pot in government-run liquor shops.
The alliance said it would only distribute and sell recreational marijuana, not medical marijuana.
Goldcorp CEO announces retirement
The CEO of Vancouver-based Goldcorp (TSX:G) has announced he’s retiring from the world’s largest gold mining company in the spring of 2016.
Chuck Jeannes has spent nine years in the top job after moving from Nevada to Vancouver to work in various positions at numerous B.C. mining companies.
The day Jeannes announced his retirement, Goldcorp had already tapped Toronto’s HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) CEO David Garofalo to take the vacant position in Vancouver.
The past year has been a trying one for Goldcorp amid slumping commodity prices.
The miner was forced to write down $2.3 billion on its new Cerro Negro mine in Argentina.
It also sought major cost-cutting measures with Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) by forming a $3.5 billion joint venture in Chile, combining their respective gold and copper projects in the region.
Trump’s name makes tower a ‘beacon of racism,’ councillor says
A Vancouver city councillor has called on the owners of Vancouver’s Trump International Hotel and Tower to remove any reference to the real estate mogul’s name. This came after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
“When I heard the news this morning, the first thing I thought was we have this damn Trump tower going in. It’s like a beacon of racism,” Coun. Kerry Jang told Business in Vancouver.
Vancouver’s former chief planner, Brent Toderian, also called for the removal of Trump’s name from the building owned by the Holborn Group.
Holborn Group CEO Joo Kim Tiah said his company wouldn’t get involved with U.S. politics.
“As such, we would not comment further on Mr. Trump’s personal agenda, nor any political issues, local or foreign,” he said. “Our efforts remain focused on the construction of what will soon be the finest luxury property in Vancouver and beyond.”
