Algenol CEO resigns, company lays off employees

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FORT MYERS, Fla.- Algenol Biotech’s CEO Paul Woods is resigning, as the company announced Friday it’s also laying off 45 employees.

The company says Paul, who is resigning for personal reasons, will remain on the board of the company. However, Woods says when he opposed the company lay offs, he had to go as chief executive.

“It is a sad day. You must understand, I absolutely adore working with all the people at Algenol,” said Woods. “If the board wants to go in a new direction, it has a right to do so.”

Sources tell WINK News, Algenol’s investors want to cut up to $18 million in expenses.

“When you decide to go forward with a reduced budget, then you have to make hard choices,” said Woods.

A meeting was held at Algenol headquarters in San Carlos Park on Friday, sources confirmed. Two investors, the Gonzalez Group of Mexico City, and the Reliance Group of Mumbai, India, led the meeting.

Eduardo Gonzalez, who gave Algenol seed money a number of years ago, announced that Woods was leaving, but could remain on the board of directors for a time.

Algenol received $10 million from Lee County taxpayers several years ago as an incentive. Forty-five people were laid off out of a workforce of about 170 on Friday. Woods tells WINK News, even with the lay offs, Algenol will meet its hiring threshold to keep the money from Lee County.

Six weeks ago, Woods announced Algenol had reached agreement to supply 18 million gallons of ethanol to service stations. A month ago, he signed a deal with the Chinese government to help a province develop fuel from algae.

Woods says he believes plans for a manufacturing plant in central Florida will now be dropped. He tells WINK News both investors have pledged to back Algenol financially for two more years.

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