Brian Taffora, co-founder of Ward4, has departed the Milwaukee entrepreneurial hub.
Taffora confirmed Friday he has left both Ward4 and Milwaukee-based venture fund CSA Partners LLC, which established the “curated community” in the Historic Pritzlaff Building at 333 N. Plankinton Ave. in June 2015.
“I am thankful for the opportunity that was given to me and grateful for all the wonderful people I got to work with,” Taffora said in an email, declining to comment further.
Ward4 had four co-founders (all of whom worked at CSA Partners): Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Steve Mech, Taffora and Pat Farley, who departed in 2016. Ward4 includes a large co-locating space for startups, as well as huddle rooms, open desks, a kitchen, conference rooms and collaboration areas. And there are larger offices reserved for startups that have grown, such as wine subscription company Bright Cellars.
Floor sensor analytics startup Scanalytics recently departed a private office space in Ward4, moving to 260 E. Highland Ave. In addition to Bright Cellars, current Ward4 members include: gener8tor, Startup Milwaukee, The Commons, devCodeCamp, EatStreet, Exit 7C, Fisher Unitech, Big Cloud Analytics, Detonator, Midwest Perks, Milwaukee Swap, Oax Health, OfficeLuv, Origin Meals, ParqEx, The Firm Consulting, Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and zizzl.
Mech, managing director at CSA Partners, did not return several calls and emails seeking comment on Taffora’s departure this week. On Wednesday, he sent an email to the Ward 4 member community that said, in part: “I just want to let everyone know that we will be welcoming a new community manager in the coming weeks. We appreciate your patience during this transition.”
