CORRECTION – Editor update: Mazu says no loan from SIDIT or additional funding is required. It is said that it has secured a loan from another institution and SIDIT is blocking the additional investment. Mazu also claims not to have written a letter to SIDIT, but rather to have presented the media with a letter written by other companies in similar situations.
Kelowna business owner Janice Taylor bites the hand she feeds, but says the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust (SIDIT) is “outside the alliance.”
Taylor runs a company called Mazu, a website dedicated to protecting children from online bullying. Part of their funding, in the form of a loan, comes from SIDIT, a provincial funded foundation that distributes tax money to help small businesses get started.
Taylor says SIDIT is refusing to give her any more money that she desperately needs to pay her employees.
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Taylor sent a letter to the SIDIT board accusing them of poor communication and failure to perform his mandate.
“And I got a full threatening letter back,” said Taylor.
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In response, SIDIT said:
“If you feel that your best course of action is to publish your confidential loan file, including the fact that you are in default on the loan, SIDIT cannot stop you.”
The letter goes on to say that if Taylor is not careful with her words, Taylor will be sued, saying, “. . . will take all measures it deems appropriate to uphold that reputation, including taking action against you for defamation. “
Taylor denies she is late on her loan from SIDIT, but admits that money is so tight that she can no longer pay her employees.
“And they weren’t paid,” said Taylor. “And they come every day.”
Leah Marshall is one of those employees.
“As a mother, as a wife, to go home to my husband and say, ‘Oh my God, I love what I do, but couldn’t get a salary.’ That is definitely a challenge. “
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Global News tried to understand SIDIT’s side of the story. It declined to comment on Taylor’s complaint, citing data protection reasons.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for Taylor, who says she’ll be forced to close in a few days if SIDIT doesn’t change her tune and get away with more money.
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