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As some may recall, this past September, the Sustainable Waterloo Region team made some fairly significant changes to our shared identity, including a move from our first office on King St. in Uptown Waterloo to our collaborative current space in the Tannery here in downtown Kitchener. We made this original move in response to a growing team with changing needs, and ultimately we knew that the Tannery was the right move given the proximity to current and future transit options, as well as the connection to our values, given the adaptive reuse of the site.

These past seven months at our new office in the Tannery has worked out even better than expected. The energy in this building is contagious. Working down the hall from creative people like Melissa Doherty, (think)form and CuteGecko has been a treat. And throughout the building, there is a buzz in the air, a real sense of community, and shared purpose.

Just over a month ago though, we were presented with the opportunity to relocate to a different location in the Tannery with our good friends, CuteGecko Inc. And given that we’d already added a new staff member (Mat Thijssen, Travelwise Coordinator extraordinaire) since the last move, not to mention adding a considerable number to our volunteer team (we now stand at over 50 dedicated contributors), we could definitely benefit from a little extra space. Other key priorities on our list included more natural light, HVAC, a kitchenette and a dedicated meeting room.

Today I’m glad to report that our landlord was able to accomodate these needs and we’re now in the process of moving to a new spot in this same wonderful building. As always, things are moving quickly! Our new lease is a 5 year agreement to-boot so hopefully we won’t need to kick around ideas for another new floor plan anytime soon.

While you might be used to finding us on the fourth floor, now you’ll climb one less flight of stairs as we leave unit 430C for unit 329. Word around the office is that we’ll be all moved in to our new home within a few weeks (check out some preliminary photos of the new space here).

With plans for this wonderful new office finalized, I’m excited to be able to focus our full collective efforts on continuing to grow Regional Carbon Initiative membership (welcome to new recent RCI members, Just Fix it, Community Support Connections and World Accord!), continue plans on a new program to help organizations advance their sustainability in a completely different environmental impact area, and all the while continue to formalize the way in which we scale up our model to communities across the province.

Exciting times indeed!

Mike