Photo: City of Williams Lake
The City of Williams Lake is pleased to announce the commencement of the Williams Lake Hiring Initiative. A pilot project funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia through a Labour Market Partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, the project is aimed at supporting Central Cariboo employers by implementing strategies to address their human resource challenges. The new Business Outreach Liaison who will be directing the program will be stationed in the Cariboo Chilcotin Community Futures Business Centre at 266
Oliver Street.
“We would like to announce that Laurie Walters has been hired as our program business outreach liaison. We feel fortunate that this project will benefit from not only her many years as a City Councillor but also for her work on attraction and retention efforts for the Central Interior Rural Division of Family Practice. Her experience, plus deep community roots give her a good basis for understanding the challenges that local employers face in attracting and retaining workers” says Beth Veenkamp, Economic Development Officer with the City of Williams Lake. “It is important that we hit the ground running, as the program has only been provided one year of funding. The goal is to ensure that business owners have developed tools and resources at the end of the year to continue to access local information on Human Resource support.”
Walters will be responsible for working with employers who are struggling to hire for positions, to provide them with a tool kit of options, and support them moving through unique strategies that best align with their business. One of the approaches will be to assist employers in understanding their options for hiring international skilled workers, a market which many local employers regularly don’t utilize due to its perceived complexities.
“I am very excited to be a part of this important initiative and proud that the City of Williams Lake has taken action and is willing to support a new concept that has not been done in other communities. This shows real leadership in supporting our local business community,” says Walters. “I am looking forward to connecting with businesses and assisting with their labour market concerns, while in turn deepening our understanding of the struggles that are taking place in our local workforce.”
The project will run until June 2020. If you would like to find out more, contact Laurie Walters at WLHiring@williamslake.ca, or 250-302-1737
