HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-04-22, Page 8Page A8 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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Employment centre bustling
Dominique Milburn
----------------------------- ------
signal-star staff
In the face of an unstable econ-
omy and uncertain future for
many local businesses, at least
one is booming in Goderich.
Susan MacKee said that busi-
ness has been 'through the roof at
the Centre for Employment and
Learning (CEL)'s Goderich
branch in the past few months. So
much so, she added, that they've
had to take on seven more staff
members just to keep up. While it
may not appear to be good news
for the community, McKee- said
that there is a silver lining.
"The good news is that we're
here and available for all of these
people."
The Centre has been working
hard to stay on top of demand,
she said. Just ten minutes after
the initial announcement of
Volvo's closure in late September,
employees of the manufacturing
branch began turning up at the
employment and learning resource
centre.
"We immediately noticed peo-
ple coming in the door," McKee
said. "We
were very
pleased that
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people knew where to go to ask
questions and ask for help."
The Volvo road grader manu-
facturing plant on Goderich's east
• end has been working closely
with the CEL to ensure that all of
its employees have access to
skills training and job search
assistance. McKee said more than
200 of its staff have begun or
expressed interest in participat-
ing in its employment counseling
services, as well as computer
training and entrepreneurship
skills.
"It's -brought a lot of people
inot the centre who probably had
never been in before. We can
respond very quickly, and we
look at each person as individu-
al."
She added that a number of
people are corning to the centre
for academic upgrading before
advancing to post secondary
training. In 2006, registration and
usage numbers increased through-
out the center's five branches in
Huron County by 208 per cent.
"It's not just. Volvo - it's the
whole economy that's needing
these services." .
"It will be interesting to see if
the labour market picks up this
April or May. If it does means
that we may be pulling out of
this. If it doesn't, it may mean the
other. Next month will be crucial
in terms of looking at the number
of people returning to work or
not."
The Centres for Employment
and Learning, located in Goderich,
Exeter, Clinton, Seaforth and
Wingham have the qualified
instructors and resources to pro-
vide customized skills training
for individuals as well as employ-
ers.
Along with boosting staff num-
bers, the Goderich CEL has
installed a second computer lab,
and acquired a mobile training lab
of 15 laptop computers that can be
taken to workplace learning sites
for easy instruction. The Centre
also offers courses in Smart Serve,
and In Good Hands, both food and
beverage service training.
The Centre is located at 38 East
St. in Goderich, and hosts a vari-
ety of free workshops through the
week. To learn more about job
search and ongoing learning
resources, contact the CEL at 519-
524-2515.
OPP get break in security costs
Gerard Creces
signal -star staff`'
Huron County OPP officers have been
given a bit of a break in terms of court se-
curity costs.
Inspector Dan Grant said changes made
to the Police Services Act have clarified the
role officers play in courtroom proceedings.
"Qfficers will be in court for security as
required," Grant said. "Now we determine
what level of security is required."
He said those changes will give officers the
ability to make the call as to what is needed
in the courtroom instead of just having an of-
ficer sitting and waiting all day.
Duties laid out in the act entail court case
managers, court officers and court security
officers.
***
March was an average month as far as calls
for police service go, according to Sergeant
Arden Farrow.
Police received 163 calls for service for
the month, down three from the same period
last year.
It seems Goderich residents are mellowing
out, as the number of complaints including
traffic, youth and 911 calls were all noticably
down.
Noise by-law complaints, however, saw
an increase from three to eight, and loud mu-
sic is the culprit.
Town staff will have to review their noise
complaint bylaws, as they have no real au-
thority to stop loud music blaring during the
day.
***
Assaults are more than double what they
were in 2008, with nine for the month of
March.
Farrow explained while some of these are
related to domestic situations, police go with
the higher level charge of assault where ap-
plicable.
***
Huron OPP conducted five ride checks in
Goderich during March, resulting in one im-
paired driving charge and one 12 -hour sus-
pension.
***
Members of the Police Services Board
were given a glimpse of the technical traf-
fic collision investigor's role, thanks to Con-
stable Joanna Van Mierlo.
Van Mierlo has been a technical investi-
gator for five years, and she said it's her job
to gather information and physical evidence
after collisions resulting in fatalities, life-
threatening injuries or on -duty OPP officers.
"When you see someone like me crawling
around on the road," she said. "We're look-
ing for evidence... trying to piece together
the sequence of events.
That entails not only the area of impact,
but tire marks, gouges or scrapes in the road
and physical attributes of the vehicle itself
such as belts, tires and electrical components
to see what went wrong and where.
She said newer vehicles also contain a
"black -box" similar to data recorders used
in airplanes. These allow officers to see pre -
impact speeds, engine revolutions per min-
ute and other performance data from the time
immediately preceeding the collision.
There are 16 technicians and six recon-
structionists covering an area from Windsor
to Tobermory to the Greater Toronto Area,
she said. Another 10 officers will be added
in May.
The next meeting of Police Services Board
will be May 20 at 11 a.m.