Doors Open
Curious crowds tour tech hub Catalyst137, one of 34 sites
WATERLOO REGION — As she walked through the well-lit, spacious workplace with high ceilings, a large circular hub for eating and a yoga studio, Sharon Humphrey wondered what it would be like to work here.
“I should have been 50 years younger,” she said.
“This is gorgeous,” said Humphrey, who along with her husband, John, toured Catalyst137 on Glasgow Street on Saturday.
It was one of 34 sites in the annual Doors Open Waterloo Region featuring local buildings, heritage sites and cool places.
Crowds streamed into the former tire warehouse to get a glimpse of the 475,000-square-foot building that houses local tech businesses, along with a coffee shop and restaurant.
The Humphreys, who downsized and live in a Waterloo condo, used to live in the Belmont neighbourhood and came back to check the new “must see.”
“We used to live behind Westmount and watched the change,” said John Humphrey as they walked through Miovision, which sells technology that eases congestion, counts vehicles and alerts city officials when traffic lights are not working.
Christina Kerr, a librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University, was in awe with the space.
“I’m trying to get my future son-in-law to move here. He’s a mechanical engineer,” she said. “It’s an amazing space.” Many of the employees of the high-tech firms in Catalyst137 are engineers with degrees from the University of Waterloo.
At Swift Labs, co-founder and chief operating officer Lara Swift was laid off from Black Berry and started the business with her husband four years ago. They moved into the building six weeks ago.
She has an undergraduate degree in English from UW and a master’s of engineering in management science.
Of their 28 employees, 21 of them are engineers.
Swift said she was thrilled with the crowds as they toured her business, which builds wireless products.
“Many had technical backgrounds and they asked a lot of smart questions,” she said.
Kurtis McBride, CEO at Miovision and part of the Catalyst137 vision, led groups through the building. He anticipated 20 people per group, but up to 50 people gathered each time.
“It’s such a different work environment. It’s such a cool place,” said Maria Newbigging, retiring in two weeks after working for an insurance company.
“There is so much opportunity here,” she said,