Chamber to tackle employment innovations

MPP Monique Smith
News Release

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The North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSAB’s) in the North East Region, and the District Municipality of Muskoka have been selected by the McGuinty government for the first round of funding from the Employment Innovations Fund, Nipissing MPP Monique Smith, announced today.

The $583,000 grant from the McGunity government will allow the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, as the lead agency, to work with DSSAB’s in Cochrane, Timiskaming, Nipissing, Parry Sound and the District Municipality of Muskoka to find their pool of employees who are ready for work to be matched to employment opportunities in the Northeast region.

“I am extremely proud of our community for stepping up and responding to the call to create opportunities for all people in Nipissing,” said Smith. “These projects will make a positive difference to both individuals in Northern Ontario and our regional economy.”

The Employment Innovations Fund, which was launched in June 2006, aims to encourage employers to expand employment opportunities for people on social assistance, including people with disabilities. Twenty-five projects, designed by organizations from across Ontario – including municipalities, not-for-profit organizations and employer associations – have been selected for funding.

“The partners wanted to create a web based tool that would be simple and straightforward for everyone involved”, stated Chair Maureen Boldt, District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board and Councillor for the City of North Bay.

To use the site and access the numerous trained workers throughout Northeastern Ontario, employers simply have to participate in a simple registration process after which posting new positions is as simple as logging into to their secure site.

Ms Boldt continued, “Employment Agencies follow a similar password structured access and once logged in, they can compare their database of eligible workers with the positions that have been posted on get trained workers.com. It was important to us that the website was secure, but also extremely user friendly for the different service providers and employment case workers who would be accessing it to ensure appropriate matches of skills of the clients we serve to meaningful employment. This is certainly a one-of-a-kind project that sees a great partnership between the Social Service Administration Boards of Nipissing, Cochrane, Timiskaming, Parry Sound, the Municipality of Muskoka and the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Northeast Region. Also in partnership with the Chambers to assist in the awareness to their contacts in business, of a pool of trained workers that they may not be aware of or through conventional hiring practices, don’t utilize as potential employees.”

“This is certainly a unique project for the Chamber, however with the network of 17 Chambers in the Northeast region, there is no better way to reach the business community than provide awareness through our Chamber partners, for employers who are all looking for ways to save time and money when seeking new employees,” explained President Mark King of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce. “We are extremely pleased with the Government’s commitment to this initiative and it’s far reaching benefits for all Northeastern Ontario. This is a truly one-of-a-kind employment initiative that will be beneficial to both the trained workers looking for jobs and the employers who need them. It really is a remarkable project,” said Mark King.

The fund builds on existing employment programs and is just one of many government initiatives aimed at helping Ontarians enter the workforce, including:

• Eliminating barriers to employment for people on social assistance by providing straightforward incentives and extra support to help them find and keep jobs

• Launching Employment Ontario, a new integrated training and employment system that will ensure people in rural areas have better access to skills training and labour market services that are tailored to the needs of rural communities

• Encouraging strong job creation – with 339,300 net new jobs since October 2003.

“Our government is committed to building opportunity for all Ontarians to succeed in the workforce and we’re engaging others to work with us to help more people achieve this goal,” said Smith. “By supporting partnerships that help local businesses connect with job-ready people, we’re investing in the future prosperity of our province.”

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