Thursday, July 19, 2001

Algonquin College Buys a Company's Online-Training Division By KAREN BIRCHARD Algonquin College, in Ottawa, has bought a majority stake in the e-learning and e-service business division of Calian Technology for an undisclosed sum, the college announced Tuesday. Algonquin will add the company's division to its existing customized training programs. The Calian acquisition will be incorporated into a business-training division called ACERRA that was established to make money for the college. "Government-funding cuts dictate that we now have to get into unfunded areas," said Elaine Hollingsworth, a spokeswoman for the college. "We have to become entrepreneurs." "Basically what they were selling falls into line with what we're already doing at Algonquin," she said. Calian announced in May that it wanted to get out of the electronic education business and concentrate on its core businesses, which include systems engineering. The e-learning division registered a $585,000 loss last year, with sales of $1.5-million. The college will keep about half of the 60 people who were employed in the e-learning business at Calian as part of the deal. Algonquin College has been in the corporate-training business for more than 25 years. Every year, according to the college, more than 500 organizations -- local, national and international -- use its customized training programs. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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