As reported over at the Blog Herald, b5media has severed ties with several bloggers and managers, including co-founder Shai Coggins.

In a memo circulated within b5media’s staffers, and subsequently shared with a few bloggers outside of the network, founder Jeremy Wright cited economic reasons for the move.

[I]t appears that this move was due to some belt-tightening measures that the company has had to do in line with its trimming of costs, refocusing of strategies and exploring of new opportunities.

Shai Coggins is the founder of About Weblogs, which merged with b5media in 2005 to form one of the larger blog networks at the time.