38 community members recently attended a Recruitment/Retention planning session at Signal Point in the Lake City.
They came together to brainstorm strategies that showcase what makes Williams Lake attractive and to come up with ways to encourage people to stay in the City.
Tamara Garreau, Executive Director of the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce said first they showcased a number of initiatives and campaigns that have already happened.
“Afterwards we ended up with a list of over 20 ideas. We had to narrow it down into things that we could accomplish over the next year or two so we reduced that down to 8 committees or working groups.”
Garreau said some of those ideas included bringing back the Welcome Package for families and maybe a Good Neighbour Program.
“There was another one, Common Landing Place, it’s like a centralized platform for community events and employment opportunities, and apprenticeship programs. We also done a change the narrative topic launching positive news stories. Affordable housing came up, daycare expansions and a young professionals network, which is something that was already in place but needed to be revived and it was something Gibraltor Mine was doing.”
Garreau said those 8 topics turned into their own committees and working groups.
“So people signed up for those particular topics, the ones they thought they could contribute to and help get off the ground. They’re all going to meet in their own committees over the next couple of weeks and then come back to the main Recruitment/Retention Committee and let us know how things are going.”
Garreau noted that they definitely want things starting over the next year, so in a year we’re going to come back together and see how far they’ve gotten with these working groups.
The Recruitment/Retention Committee was put together by the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce, Cariboo Regional District and the City of Williams Lake.
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