Local company gets grant to develop software for job seekers

A local company will be hiring after receiving a Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) grant to further develop software.

Scott Clark, President of Clark Marketing Communications Productions tells BayToday the software tracks and matches job seekers with relevant training and employment opportunities in the Ontario government's social assistance branches, such as Ontario Works.

The grant is worth $60,000.

Clark says the product has really taken off.

"There are over 20 municipalities around Ontario that are using it now, including eight First Nations."

It's more than a job-matching tool says Clark.

"It's an asset management tool. In the past, often deficit information would be collected but ours collects asset information, things like, do you have a driver's license? What is it you want to do in the future? It not only looks for jobs but training opportunities, education, and a number of different things that move people from social services into the workforce, and it's been highly successful."

The Ontario government is providing more than $1 million to support the technology sector, create jobs, and help boost the digital economy in the north. 

"That money is earmarked for hiring one or two more people," explains Clark, "so jobs will be created, and to help protect the intellectual property as well."

Since June 2018, the NOHFC has spent more than $193 million in 1,386 projects in northern Ontario, leveraging more than $748 million in investment and creating or sustaining 3,912 jobs.