���߲ݴ�ý

Katherine Homuth, the founder and CEO of Sheertex, set out on a mission to create pantyhose durable enough not to rip while thin enough to wear without feeling overheated.

“Developed from the same category of fibres used in bulletproof vests, climbing equipment and fishing line, Sheertex fibres are 10 times stronger than steel, cool to the touch and antibacterial,” says

Homuth has been named one of the Women to Watch in Wearables, one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and one of Flare’s 60 Under 30, and her business was named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2018, says the Sheertex Facebook page.

In April 2019,

And now the company is donating $15,000 back to the – which is the largest donation the organization has ever received.

“We leave Muskoka with mixed emotions,” Homuth said in a press release published Sept. 18. “Our manufacturing process is very specialized and an opportunity in Montreal became available that addresses all of our immediate growth requirements, so we moved quickly.”

“We will be forever grateful to Bracebridge and Muskoka for incubating our young company. And the work that Founders Circle is doing deserves to be supported, so we’re pleased to be able to say ‘thank you’ in this way,” she said.

Rick Dalmazzi, the executive chair of the Founders Circle, described the organization’s role in supporting local economic growth.

“The Founders Circle is a group of Muskoka-based individuals and businesses and not-for-profits that come together to promote economic development in the Muskoka region. Our first initiative is something called the Founders Choice Awards, and we have done it for two years now,” he said in a phone interview.

“We reward deserving entrepreneurs with cash prizes to help them fund their young companies,” he explained. “We publicize it and entrepreneurs apply for the awards and we have a selection committee that uses some set criteria for the choices and then we present the awards at the .”

Although Sheertex will no longer be based in Muskoka, Dalmazzi said the organization is happy for its success.

“We actually feel good about the fact that they’ve been so successful that they are leaving to pursue that success, so from that point of view, we’re pretty proud of them,” he said. “We’re pretty proud that we picked a very successful company and that we were able to help them when they were in a position when they could use the money.”

“I am so thankful to the Muskoka community for its support since we opened our factory just under a year ago. The business has grown faster than we ever imagined and we have been struggling to keep up with production demand locally,” Homuth wrote in a statement to this newspaper.

“The move to Montreal gives us access to the resources we need to continue to grow. It has not been an easy decision and while it’s the right thing to do for the business, I am personally very sad to be leaving Muskoka,” she said.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 9:49 a.m. on Sept. 18 following an announcement by the Muskoka Founders Circle that Sheertex had donated $15,000 to the group.