Ever since their “soft launch” back in June, the people behind the Thompson 2020 initiative has been busy devising a strategy to help get this city through the tough economic times that are on the horizon.
At a Oct. 30 city council meeting, the team of Harold Smith, Tim Gibson and Keisha Davis provided the mayor and councillors with a brief update of their progress so far.
While this isn’t the first time he’s given a project update at City Hall this year, Smith provided council with a clearer picture of how they plan to reconfigure the local economy to help mitigate Thompson’s struggling mining sector.
After conducting a number of local surveys, including one involving Vale retirees, Smith and his team have devised a three-pronged approach to tackling this issue: workforce utilization, retaining and attracting residents, and business redevelopment.
In terms of “workforce utilization,” Smith said one of the best ways to drive this project home is through helping the affected workforce at Vale and related businesses transition into new jobs.
Outside of providing support programs for these affected employees, Smith also mentioned they plan to establish a Northern Workforce Development Centre that will provide training tailored to current job opportunities.
“We know that we’re going to have people who are looking for work, but we think there are untapped opportunities … both in Thompson and the region, as well as nationally that can help people to find work,” said Smith.
When it comes to retaining and attracting residents, Smith mentioned that the city should focus on enhancing local amenities and infrastructure, and look into developing cottage lots.
“We’ve heard from a number of people, including in the Vale survey, that one of the main factors for people choosing to stay longer in Thompson has to do with the availability of lakefront cottages and hobby farm properties,” said Smith. “So we want to get that to the point where we … put those into the market and let the market decide.”
The business redevelopment portion remained fairly vague, since the team’s overall plan is to transition mining-related suppliers and other businesses into“providing services for the region and for the north.”
Moving forward, the Thompson 2020 team plans to establish a larger presence online and continue to survey the local populace for feedback.
“The website will be up in the next couple weeks,” said Smith. “The website will have a direct link to the residents survey. We really encourage people to follow that link and to fill in the survey and give us the information that helps us to guide this project.”
Celebrating local firefighters
A certificate of appreciation ceremony preceded this Thompson 2020 update, where Mayor Dennis Fenske honoured two members of Thompson Fire & Emergency Services.
Fire Chief John Maskerine was recognized for receiving the provincial government’s Mary Beth Dolin Meritorious Fire Service Award on Oct. 10, and spoke briefly about his nearly 50 years of service in the community.
“The only thing I can do now is teach a young firefighter how to be an old firefighter,” said Maskerine.
In this spirit, the next certificate was handed out to firefighter Darrick Graff, who recently posted his personal best time in the 2017 FireFit national championship in Ottawa and represented Thompson in an international competition in Louisville, Kentucky.
The next city council meeting is Nov. 14 at City Hall at 7 p.m.
