Communitech asking for input on Waterloo Region’s future through new survey

A new survey from Communitech could have a positive impact on the future of local business founders. As the population grows, the region is expected to hit over a million people. Some of the people moving here are business leaders in technology.

The president and CEO of Communitech, Chris Albinson, said they have onboarded over 400 new companies in the last 5 years. Now, over 30,000 tech workers are living in the region.

“About 18 per cent of those founders are really animated about solving problems in healthcare and we’re seeing some of those innovations deployed right in Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, Cambridge Hospital.”

The main idea behind Communitech is to help companies grow and succeed in the region.

“We’re really lucky to have great global leaders like OpenText here, but if our quality of life here isn’t what we all came here for then it doesn’t matter, so it’s really important to be doing both.”

After taking a road trip to Detroit with local community leaders like Kitchener’s mayor, they discussed what the region could do to improve life for workers, which is when Communitech decided to ask the community for input.

The survey asks people where they live and what they do. Then asks whether or not a person has been to any of Communitech’s events before, as well as, to what extent a person feels Communitech has made a positive impact locally.

Albinson hopes it leads to a broader conversation in the community about what the people in the city want or need to make this an amazing place to live or work, helping retain the techies that chose to call the region home.

The survey can be found online here.