Waterloo reacts to possible sale of BlackBerry

The struggles of Waterloo, Ont.,-based BlackBerry is cause for trepidation among residents, although local leaders believe the community can withstand turbulent times for the technology company.

BlackBerry said Monday it is looking into partnerships, joint ventures and possibly the sale of the company in order to secure its future. This come only a month after BlackBerry laid off 250 employees at its new-product testing facility, and last week three senior executives left the company.

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John Mazur runs a hot dog cart next door to the BlackBerry campus in Waterloo. He said the uncertainty surrounding BlackBerry is hard on the region.

"It's very bad for Waterloo-Kitchener because many people have a good job and now we don't know what [the] future brings," Mazur said.

Gail Brooks, of Kitchener, said she hopes the company won't be sold off, as its success is a matter of local, and national, pride.

"To feel that we were on the map for something that big, it was a good feeling," said Brooks.

Brooks said she is worried a sale would result in people losing their jobs.

"It has employed a lot of people," she said. "I know people that have friends or daughters or sons working there."

'They are making the right decisions'

Community leaders, meanwhile, took the opportunity to throw their support behind the hometown company.

Iain Klugman, the CEO of Kitchener technology startup incubator Communitech, says he still has confidence in BlackBerry's board of directors.

"They are making the right decisions," Klugman said on Monday. "And a lot of them aren't easy decisions to make."

Waterloo Region's tech future remains bright, says Klugman, as countless start-ups and major players like Google continue to invest in the region. 

"It's very much a community that's strong from a technology perspective," said Klugman. "It's not Waterloo equals BlackBerry, it's Waterloo equals BlackBerry and a whole bunch of other great companies."

Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran said in a statement to CBC that "BlackBerry is an important and key organization.

"This is a very innovative and strategic company and we are 100 per cent behind them as they recalibrate their strategies," she wrote.

So far, BlackBerry has not given any indication what the company's future many hold. The company's spokespeople say they will only comment further after the Board of Directors decides which course to take.