With 700 job losses looming on the horizon, the Thompson 2020 initiative is positioning itself as a way to help transition the community through this difficult time.
At the June 14 Thompson Chamber of Commerce meeting, the people behind this project laid out a very broad outline of what their plan involves.
After Mayor Dennis Fenske presented the city’s 2017 budget, the meeting was given over to Harold Smith and Tim Gibson, the figureheads of the Thompson 2020 initiative.
As a long-time Thompson resident, Smith opened their presentation by going over the city’s history as a mining community and explained that these 700 lost jobs at Vale are unprecedented.
“The most recent news probably represents one of the most significant economic challenges that the community will have faced in its history, just in terms of sheer numbers,” he said.
When it comes to how the team is going to overcome this historic downturn, Smith said they “will be spending at least 50 per cent of our effort in this overall project on … workforce adjustment.”
During the rest of the presentation, Smith said the project will focus on number of other objectives, including economic redevelopment, population retention, and building partnerships both regionally and within the community.
In addition to the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Thompson itself, the 2020 team has already identified a number of potential partners and collaborators, including Service Canada, the Churchill Regional Economic Development fund, and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.
As a veteran of the private sector, Gibson aims to bring a “project-based approach” to this initiative, which includes creating a master project charter, planning and execution summaries, and progress reports that are regularly made available to the public.
“I’m really big on data. Survey data, background data, charts, graphs, pie charts, things like that,“ he said. “Because, after all, 2020 is about getting some stuff done that makes a difference.”
While he admits that they are still in the “early days” of planning, Smith knows that the biggest hurdle people will have to overcome is getting out of their comfort zone and starting to think of Thompson as more than just a mining community.
“I think that there will need to be a fundamental change in how we view our community and our roles in the community,” he said. “And if one can actually help to establish a new business in Thompson and also help someone to transition in their employment, then that’s a double win.”
Even though these are trying times, Fenske ended the meeting by reminding the attendees that, during the summer, they intend to get a jumpstart on this industrious spirit by injecting $100 million into the community through various construction projects.
“So we’re not dead,” said Fenske. “We’ve got a challenge ahead of us, but it’s going to be very, very busy this summer and hopefully that will show others that it can be done.”
The next Thompson Chamber of Commerce meeting is set to take place on June 28 at the Meridian Hotel and will feature city council member Dennis Foley.
