Iain Klugman will be stepping down in 2021

After 15 years at the helm, Iain Klugman will be stepping down as CEO of Communitech.

That will happen in 2021, when his current term ends.

Klugman said he is immensely proud of the growth and success of the local tech community and the role Communitech has played in that.

He tells 570 NEWS it just felt like the right time, "When I looked at where we're at as an organization, we have a very, very strong team in place - remarkable people - our finances are in great shape, we've just got through signing multi-year agreements with the feds and the province and we've got an incredible board,"

Klugman said he wants to be remembered as someone who helped built a strong team that was able to do "extraordinary" things.

"I think that's absolutely been the success that we've had over the last 15 years, has been our ability to attract remarkable people to come and invest their time, effort and passion into this mission of Communitech." he said.

"You know, it's the reason people come here ... they're committed to saying how do we make sure we ensure our long-term prosperity of community and our country? ... It's that kind of mission driven organization that really attracts the kind of people that has allowed us to be so successful."

He adds Communitech and its partners have really helped build a brand that is known around the country and the world.

But the one thing Klugman does wish he was able to do was bring two-way, all-day GO train service to the region, "It is the one big constraint we've got as a community, is our inability to really connect the power of the Toronto-Waterloo corridor."

The board of directors at Communitech is expected to launch a search for his successor early in the new year.

Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports over 1,400 companies in the region.