The city’s economic development department wants to spend $45,000 this year to market the city as a destination for families looking for work, with hundreds of new jobs expected to be created in the coming months.
A new call centre, Atelka, has already taken possession of a facility on Tollgate Road that will eventually employ as many as 400 people, and the Target distribution centre in the city’s industrial park will eventually employ 500 when it ramps up production later this year.
Marc Boileau, the city’s economic development manager, said Friday while his department is also looking for new businesses to come to Cornwall, this year money is being directed to ensure there are people available locally and attracting more workers here to fill empty positions.
“This year we need to dedicate some more attention to this area,” he said in an interview. “You need to focus on the unemployed and underemployed locally…but you need to try to attract some families too.”
The city will be advertising in outside communities and spreading the message that jobs are available in Cornwall.
Senior development officer Bob Peters told the city’s budget committee advertising is expensive, but necessary.
“If you’re trying to attract residents to fill 500 positions, it requires you to reach a greater amount of the population,” he said.
Peters said the former Teleperformance building on Tollgate Road will now house Atelka, which will allow employees displaced by the closure of the previous company to apply for work with the new one.
