Ontario has announced new funding for the Quinte Economic Development Commission’s (QEDC) Elevate Plus project.
Elevate Plus is a program that helps unemployed and underemployed people be provided with the skills they need to succeed in different jobs in the Quinte Region.
This specific funding is being invested in the manufacturing sector of the program.
At a press conference at the Small Business Centre at Loyalist College, Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith announced $1,275,400 was being invested in the program.
The funding comes from the province’s Skills Development Fund Training Stream.
“We’re thrilled at the Quinte Economic Development Commission,” QEDC CEO Chris King tells Quinte News on his reaction to receiving the funding.
“It’s good news. It’s great for the manufacturers. It’s great for the workforce, and it’s great for the community.”
King went through how the funding will be spread within the program.
“What it’s going to do is it’s going to help train people to get job-ready to take jobs in the manufacturing sector,” King explained.
“There’s also a big chunk of that money going directly to manufacturers who want to invest in their people to upgrade their skills, transferable portable skills, to make them more employable at those operations and handle the more sophisticated equipment and advanced technologies they’re implementing as well.”
One of the ways the funding will be used is in new hire training.
King explained how that training is delivered.
“We partner with Loyalist College and they deliver a four-week training program to get people job ready,” King said.
“So they learn about manufacturing skills. There’s lots of soft skills, communication skills, employer expectations, working in a team environment, all those types of skills that employers are looking for. When they’re done, each of them gets a full time permanent job in the manufacturing sector.”
More information about the program can be found at their website.
(L-R) Loyalist College President Mark Kirkpatrick, Leonard Pattison, Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, Brighton mayor and chair of the Quinte Economic Development Commission Brian Ostrander, and Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison. May 3, 2024. (Photo: Zach McGibbon/Quinte News)
