Wellington County council was updated on developing plans for continuation of the Live and Work in Wellington and Talent Attraction initiatives at the March 31 meeting.
In her March report, economic development coordinator Jana Burns provided information and requested input from the county and member municipalities on the creation of a new Live and Work in Wellington landing page as part of the county’s website.
As part of the overall site design, the economic development department is planning to create and enhance three landing pages: wellingtonmeans business.ca; experiencewel lington.ca; and liveandwork wellington.ca.
“The rationale is twofold. The county’s economic development department is currently revising its overall site design and landing pages, following one year of experience and metrics analysis,” the report explains.
“The county also has a new provincially-funded talent attraction initiative focused on targeted recruitment for current employment gaps and resident attraction.”
Wellington Means Business will provide businesses with:
– site selection information and economic development tools including socioeconomic data, business directory, employment lands and sector profiles;
– business development resources (financial, coaching, grants, etc) and supply chain information; and
– information about the county’s economic development team and current economic initiatives and projects such as the signage strategy, sector profiles, etc.
The Experience Wellington page will be targeted to residents and visitors and provide them with information on festivals and events, as well as other things to do in the county.
The Live and Work site will be focused on “enticing people to live and work in Wellington County” and include sections on finding a home, finding a job, buying a business, volunteering and “settling in” (schools, etc.).
“The ultimate goal of the webpage is to drive people to a landing page which will provide them with job opportunities and promotes our quality life in Wellington County,” the reports states.
A talent attraction report from the economic development department indicates there will be two “Live and Work” bus tours in 2016 to visit employers/businesses in Wellington County.
“These tours will follow the same template as the successful tours conducted last year which garnered national level attention,” the report states, adding this year the goal will be to increase the number of participants, with emphasis placed post-secondary institutions, and strategically invite stakeholders, such as representatives of cultural associations, who could help promote Wellington County as a desirable place in which to live, work and invest.
The talent attraction report also details plans to provide support for employers hiring immigrants and newcomers and explore the possibility of attracting skilled workers displaced by the economic downturn in Alberta.
“We will explore the possibility to take advantage of this redundant labour pool to fill employment gaps in Wellington County,” the report states. “More research is needed to determine the feasibility of this idea but it holds potential as, for most of these workers, working in Wellington County would likely be more attractive than unemployment in northern Alberta.”
