CO.LAB lays off four of its 10 employees
Tasia Malakasis says the organization will double down on its Sustainable Mobility Accelerator.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported in its Friday edition that The Company Lab (CO.LAB), the entrepreneur center serving Southeast Tennessee, has laid off four of its 10 employees.
The article quotes Tasia Malakasis, the nonprofit’s Chief Executive Officer, as saying the organization is aiming to be “laser-focused” on high-tech, growable businesses. That includes start-ups in artificial intelligence, quantum, energy, and transportation, which she said represent the competitive advantage for Chattanooga.
“In order to be very focused on those things, we had to make the unfortunate decision to reduce staff in those areas that are not associated with the sustainable mobility accelerator,” she said in a phone call with the newspaper’s David Floyd. “Our decision is to really double down on the accelerator.”
She is referring to the CO.LAB Sustainable Mobility Accelerator, a collaboration with gener8tor, an operator of programs across the country.
The article also quotes CO.LAB Board Chair Tiffanie Robinson, who said the board will meet soon to hone in on a precise strategic direction of the organization. For the nonprofit to thrive, it needs to concentrate on what it’s really good at, she said, which includes creating accelerator programs and fostering businesses with a large potential for growth.
Contributing further to the decision were two events:
- The loss of some foundation funding; and
- A grant associated with the start team that ran out at the end of 2024.
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