The Spinner February 2 2023

President Jackie chaired the meeting.

She welcomed corporate primary designee Dean Porter for club corporate member Poole Althouse Lawyers.   Sandy Power, Media and Information officer for NL Workplace Innovation Centre, NLWIC was welcomed as was Susanne Dawe, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator for NLWIC and the primary guest presenter Sharon McLennon, Director of NLWIC.

Jackie noted that invoices for dues had been sent out to all Rotarians and she requested a speedy response. 

Next week Karen Spinner chair of the Winer Carnival Committee will be the guest speaker. 

Olaf, program-chair introduced Sharon before she gave her power point presentation about the NL Workplace Innovation Centre, NLWIC.

She began by asking three questions. What is NLWIC, what has NLWIC been doing since April 2018 and how can the Corner Brook Rotary engage with NLWIC?  She continued by looking at its mandate, administration, and funding. 

The vision of NLWIC is to lead a sustainable and innovative workforce development ecosystem that accelerates the economic growth and prosperity of Newfoundland and Labrador. Its mission is to innovate workforce development and she noted the value of the Centre to the province.

Sharon went on to look at the six core activities mandated by the government which include stakeholder engagement, research funding and collaborations, regional development committees action planning, economic immigration-focused ideas lab, workforce innovation dissemination and capacity building.  

She continued by looking at the 20 research projects the Centre has funded to date particularly those in the Corner Brook area.  The projects in this area include one with the Status of Women council looking at a community-minded social enterprise: An Inquiry for Viability, a project with NLFIA looking at a forest-based bioeconomy development in Newfoundland and a pilot project with the YMCA employment services-YES! 

Susanne Dawe then spoke of the regional workforce development committees She explained how Workforce Development is a people first approach with a focus on employment initiatives that address the creation and retention of a viable workforce through skills training, collaboration and matching of employers and employees with the objective of economic prosperity for individuals, businesses, and communities.

Susanne explained how the committees serve as planning and two-way communication platforms for localized labour market activities and initiatives.

She looked at the research being done and how it is evaluated

She continued by looking at the division of the province into ten regions each with a committee. She went on to look at a Labour Information Chart (LMI) Infographics for the Corner Brook- Rocky Harbour region. This explained what was happening in the area from which action plans could be developed.

Sharon completed the presentation by considering the way NLWIC could be engaged. NLWIC is based in Corner Brook though is provincial in scope. It is a leading innovation in workforce development to address labour market challenges and opportunities. Employers and other labour market stakeholders connect with NLWIC about labour shortages, recruitment, and retention issues etc.

Jackie thanked Sharon and Susanne on behalf of the club after they answered several questions.