DON'T MISS THE FINANCIAL GUIDE ON PAGES 8-9 Wednesday, February 8, 2017
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Fiddle finale VALENTINE'S DAY PAGE 7
Mayor outlines postsmelter and refinery closure landscape for chamber BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
ROYAL MTC PLAY ARRIVING FEB 15. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 2
NORMAN REGIONAL STARSKATE START FRIDAY SPORTS - PAGE 10
TWO HOOPS TEAMS WIN TITLES SPORTS - PAGE 16
Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham Winnipeg fiddler, guitarist and singer Raine Hamilton finished with a fiddle tune at her Feb. 2 performance at the Letkemann Theatre in front of an appreciative crowd. Hamilton was accompanied onstage by bassist Quintin Bart.
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Volume 57 • Issue 6
Mayor Dennis Fenske’s speech to the Thompson Chamber of Commerce at their lunch meeting Jan. 18 on the Thompson 2020 initiative included a few measures of realism mixed in with a couple of shots of optimism. He started off with the reality check, explaining that the closure of the Vale Manitoba Operations smelter and refinery by mid-2018 would result in a reduction of about 500 jobs from the 1,450 that the company currently employs and that the number of contractors working for Vale in Thompson would drop from about 400 or 500 down to about 125. Dealing with that reality is the job of the Thompson 2020 committee, which includes, in addition to the mayor as the city’s representative, Manitoba Operations vice-president Mark Scott and corporate affairs and organizational development manager Ryan Land from Vale, Tim Johnston from Community Futures North Central Development, Oswald Sawh from Community Economic Development Fund (CEDF), and Jacqueline Lagimodiere as the provincial government representative. The committee is in the process of hiring a project manager, who will oversee the work of three subgroups, each with a specific area of focus. The first group, headed by Land, will have responsibility for Vale employees directly affected by the smelter and refinery closure. “Vale will deal with their employees but also working with other organizations because what’s happened is that over the last number of years through their POInT [process operator in training] program and hiring process they’ve hired and have qualified process operators in the refinery and the smelter who have well-paying jobs
and are skilled but were hired on a contract basis with an end date of mid-2018,” said Fenske. “So at the end of 18 we’ll have a certain number of employees who are highly skilled and trained who could be cross-trained to other jobs in our community.” The second group will be tasked with the job of ensuring that Thompson residents who retire from Vale or other companies have access to the quality of life that will make them consider staying. “Our goal community-wise is to retain as many retirees in our community as we can,” said Fenske. “Currently Vale has 900 of the highest-paying jobs in Canada in regards to the wages paid and the benefits paid. The retirees similarly have a very good retiree benefit. It’s changing over the next couple of years because of business decisions but basically those that are affected that are retiring prior to Dec. 31, 2018 have a reasonable benefit package which is above and beyond the average person in Manitoba.” Those residents are especially important, says the mayor, because many Thompson retirees are young and have a decade or more of good working years ahead of them and embark upon second careers. “We want those second careers to be in Thompson because then they remain as ratepayers and resident of our communities,” he said. The third working group will be dedicated to business retention and growth, with a particular emphasis on identifying products or service that Vale currently purchases from suppliers outside of Thompson and whether there are local businesses that can step in to provide those goods and services. In addition to hiring the Thompson 2020 project manager, the city is going to hire an economic deContinued on Page 12
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