It’s been more than two months since Innovation Pavilion founder Waqar “Vic” Ahmed resigned from the business incubator and co-working space after a former employee filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault.
The Centennial company has since named interim CEO Kitty Kolding Ahmed’s permanent replacement. In a July 31 news release from Innovation Pavilion Kolding’s appointment is described as part of “key changes to its leadership structure that took effect this past month.”
The release doesn’t say what triggered those changes. The nearly 500-word statement does not mention Ahmed or the lawsuit that described him as a “serial predator” at all.
For Steven Silvers, a corporate reputation and crisis management professional, that lack of acknowledgement is an issue that could undermine the company beyond the allegations against Ahmed.
“The optics are so obvious to so many people in this era of #MeToo,” Silvers said. “The first thing a good business would do is come out and say ‘We are going to initiate an internal investigation to find out exactly what happened.’ Their response to this crisis is going to have a far lengthier and more damaging effect on the company than if they handled it more directly.”
Silvers, senior partner with Silvers Jacobson LCC, has provided crisis management planning and response counseling to clients that include the city of Denver, Noble Energy, Vail Resorts and the Candelas mixed-used development that abuts the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge in Arvada. Innovation Pavilion has harmed its reputation by telling media outlets it “stands squarely behind Vic,” as it told 9News this spring, Silvers said.
“Whether or not that allegations are true, this has raised an issue that is way too prominent in this country’s corporate business community,” he said. “Why are they saying, ‘We are standing with the accused’? This is setting exactly the wrong kind of example for a company that is supposed to be showing other companies how to be successful.”
In Innovation Pavilion’s July 31 news release Kolding, a past CEO of other businesses and a previous Innovation Pavilion partner, described the company’s aim of creating business incubators like the one it operates at 9200 E. Mineral Ave. in Centennial in other communities across the country as “brilliant.”
“It’s a big, bold vision, and I’m enormously proud to lead this exciting venture,” she said in the release.
A company spokesman told The Denver Post Kolding would not be commenting about leadership at Innovation Pavilion beyond what was shared in the prepared statement.
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The lawsuit against Ahmed was filed on behalf of Suzy Gutierrez, a former IP executive that helped launched a wing of the company focused on internet of things technology in 2015. She alleges that in addition to repeated instances of sexual harassment, Ahmed sexually assaulted her on a business trip in 2017. Innovation Pavilion is named as a co-defendant in that suit. At least one other former employee has come forward to accuse Ahmed of harassment.
In a statement released this spring, Ahmed denied the assault allegations but said he engaged in a consensual relationship with Gutierrez. He apologized for unprofessional behavior.
An attorney representing Innovation Pavilion in the case declined to comment on the litigation.
The lawsuit may already be impacting Innovation Pavilion’s future, including its plans to expand to other cities, including Parker, Olathe, Kan., and Joliet, Ill.
Kolding visited Joliet this summer to discuss the patch of city-owned land that was offered to Innovation Pavilion for a new campus after city officials expressed concern about the lack of progress and how the lawsuit could impact the company’s finances, said Derek Conley, an economic development specialist for the city. City staff are working now to develop a progress timeline to hold Innovation Pavilion to, Conley said. If the campus is built, IP is in line for $200,000 in incentives, but the city does has the right to reclaim the property if the project stalls.
“We didn’t give them any money up front,” Conley said.
Parker officials say the company has yet to submit any plans or paperwork to the town regarding a possible campus there.
Trouble could be brewing in Centennial, too. BusinessDen, which broke the story of the lawsuit against Ahmed, reported last week that the space Innovation Pavilion occupies at 9200 E. Mineral Ave. in Centennial has been listed as available on a commercial real estate website. Property owner Northstar Commercial Partners declined to comment on the listing citing privacy concerns.
“They have got to take action,” Silvers said of Innovation Pavilion. “They have to make it clear they care about this issue and not make this about Vic. Otherwise, ultimately the company goes away. And, obviously, the landlord is projecting that.”
