WATERLOO (Friday, January 8, 2010) - After nearly three years at the helm of the Accelerator Centre, Tom Corr is leaving to become president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

He assumes his new duties on March 1, replacing Mark Romoff who retired in September.

Corr was hired in April 2007 as chief executive officer of the Accelerator Centre, a business incubator at the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park designed to help early-stage technology companies to commercialize their research.

Around the same time, he was also hired as associate vice-president of commercialization at the University of Waterloo and split his time between the two positions.

The Ontario Centres of Excellence is a non-profit corporation set up by the province in 1987. It provides funding and research assistance to help information technology, environmental, energy and manufacturing companies take their ideas to market. Based in Toronto, it has six other offices across the province including one in Waterloo. It has an annual budget of about $54 million, most of which comes from government grants.

In an email, Corr said his new job will give him an opportunity "to address commercialization opportunities on an Ontario-wide basis."

Among highlights of his tenure at the Accelerator Centre, he cited the fact the facility is full with more than 25 companies and five partners employing 170 people.

In addition, five firms have graduated from the centre in the last two years creating more than 100 jobs, said Corr, whose more than 30 years in information technology spans the private and education sectors.

"It was always about job creation and economic development and the AC is filling that role in serving entrepreneurs in the community."