Private-public partnerships provide proper personnel.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: NORTH BAY

A unique partnership between the North Bay Chamber of Commerce and various social services boards across northeastern Ontario is hoping to help match regional employers with up to 600 workers in the next year.

Through GetTrainedWorkers.com, the project partners work together to link participant businesses with qualified recipients of Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) in the catchment areas of Nipissing, Cochrane, Timiskaming, Parry Sound and Muskoka.

Having received $580,000 from the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services' annual Employment Innovations Fund budget, the one-year pilot project is one of the ministry's largest.

"When people say that there are no jobs in Northern Ontario, they're wrong," Patti Carr, manager of the North Bay Chamber, says.

"Every sector's looking for people, this is just one tool we're hoping to use to be able to fulfill the employment needs of businesses in the region."

After registering on the site, businesses will be contacted within 24 hours, at which point their status as a business is verified. They may then choose how many resumes they wish to receive, and the manner in which they wish to receive them, be it via phone, fax or email.

Their desired employee specifications and requirements are then broadcast throughout the program's northeastern network, where OW and ODSP caseworkers filter through their pool of clients to determine eligibility.

Though the length of the process varies depending on employer need and subject availability, Carr says some people can expect results in as quickly as a week from their time of registration.

This can represent a considerable savings of time and effort on behalf of business owners, for whom the matching service is completely free, according to John Hewitt, the program's regional coordinator.

What's more, it leverages the business strengths of the North Bay Chamber with the existing infrastructure of the various social services boards, thereby streamlining the process.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"For a lot of the smaller businesses in the region, one person acts as human resources manager, shipper, receiver and a million other jobs," Hewitt says.

"If they're looking to hire someone, they might not have the time to go through a million resumes. By passing it through this system, they can set it and forget it and focus on running their business."

In its first six weeks, the...