by Olivia Rutt
MAPLETON – The first Live and Work Wellington bus tour was held on Oct. 29 with 21 people visiting three agricultural businesses in Mapleton.
At each stop, which included Wallenstein Feed and Supply, Spectrum Feed Services and Canarm AgSystems, participants were given a tour of the facility and an opportunity to hand in resumes.
“The Live and Work Wellington bus tour is about enticing new workers to come in to Wellington County and show them what great opportunities we have here,” said Robyn Mulder, global talent coordinator for the county.
Mulder explained the county’s business expansion and retention program found that local employers were looking for people to fill their openings in the agriculture sector, but there were not many people to fill those positions.
“That’s because there’s a low unemployment rate at the moment,” she said.
“The agricultural sector is such a big part of rural southern Ontario that’s why we wanted to showcase what wonderful opportunities we have here.”
Spectrum Feed Services owner Dave Flaherty said it was important to be a part of the tour.
“We have a limited exposure to people in the community here … anytime we can get exposure for our business and people become more aware of the ag-business, it’s really important to us,” he said.
“We have a tendency to have lots of immigrants in this county but we get very few that come to the more rural areas. There’s lots of demand for people out here.”
Mulder said she is hoping the participants will get their foot in the door.
“What we’re hoping, we have asked them to bring their resume and they are welcome to hand them in while we go around and we are hoping that people are going to get jobs,” she said.
Participants Helen Bowley and Sue Eyre were impressed with the tour.
“I came along because I’m currently in between looking for new jobs. My background is agriculture but also my background is graphic design,” said Bowley.
Eyre added, “I’ve been a foreman since I was 21 and I’ve always been in that industry and now I’m in health care. [I always wanted] to get back to the agricultural side of it … being more outdoors and more physical and everything, so I thought there’d be some openings I could do.”
The next tour, on Nov. 19, will have a heath care focus, including stops at Louise Marshall Hospital in Mount Forest, Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes in Harriston, and Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus.
“There are fantastic jobs here in Wellington County at some of the hospitals and the family health teams so we’ll be showcasing three other companies then,” said Mulder.
