Fanshawe selected to host welding diversity program

Fanshawe College has been selected as the only Ontario institution to host the CWB Welding Foundation’s Women of Steel: Forging Forward program, an initiative aimed at reducing gender diversity within the welding trade. The program, to be delivered at Fanshawe’s St. Thomas/Elgin Region campus starting next week, is supplemented by 70 hours of online training and is inclusive of a four-week work placement. Students will be able to earn up to six different Canadian Welding Bureau certificates. The program, which is fully funded and is running across the country, “aims to encourage more women to choose careers in welding and welding-related industries, through strategic engagement programs that include virtual and hands-on learning opportunities,” the CWB Welding Foundation said. And the good news, if you’re a woman interested in the trade, is that there are still a few seats available for the first intake next week.

The upshot: The program aims to address a couple of things: a general shortage in welders and a big underrepresentation of women or women-identifying individuals in the profession ― of the 80,000 or so welders working in Canada, only 4 per cent are women, the CWB Group said. “Providing women with opportunities to pursue traditionally male-dominated careers like welding and other skilled trades is critically important on both an individual and regional level,” said Fanshawe’s manager of corporate training Heather Carey. “The Women of Steel program offers a supportive environment and mentoring opportunities to give our participants the best opportunity to develop the skills, confidence and resilience as they pursue a rewarding new career.”

Read more: Fanshawe College

Province pledges more money for Stellantis; feds said to be close to finalizing new deal

Ontario was the first to blink in the Stellantis standoff, announcing late last week that they were boosting their share of the subsidy package offered to partners Stellantis AG and LG Energy Solution, who have suspended construction on their $5-billion NextStar Energy electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor. Premier Doug Ford hasn’t yet said by how much they will be boosting said subsidy, but stated, “This is all about saving jobs and giving people the quality of life they deserve. It’s about communicating, sitting across the table.” This week, Ford also announced the province would be providing free training for auto workers in the EV sector. According to a release from the province, “The free programs will provide participants with skills for rewarding careers in machine operation, assembly, quality control, and logistics while also preparing automotive technicians and those interested in the industry for work in the emerging electric vehicle field.” Training will be offered at Fanshawe College, as well as Conestoga’s Guelph campus and St. Lawrence College’s Cornwall campus.

The upshot: Construction was halted last week at the plant, with Stellantis/LG accusing the federal government of not holding up its end of the deal. For observers, it’s never been clear if Stellantis is accusing the feds of not providing promised subsidies, or if they are angling for increased subsidies more in line with what VW is promised for its recently announced EV battery plant in St. Thomas. Either way, industry insiders are saying a deal between the various players is imminent, and construction will resume. “We've been very confident from the beginning of this quite public crisis, that Stellantis is committed to Windsor, and so is the federal and provincial government,” said Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association president Flavio Volpe during an province’s training announcement in London Wednesday.

Read more: Reuters | CTV Windsor

$33-million Budweiser Gardens reno moves a step closer

City council appears to be on board with a $33-million plan to renovate Budweiser Gardens, deliberating the proposal this week. The city’s corporate services committee voted unanimously in favour of moving forward, with staff preparing an agreement for the reno and expansion. The city would pay around $27.7 million towards the two-phase project, with the remaining 20 per cent falling to California-based OVG360, which operates Bud Gardens (under a 50-year deal, the city receives a share of the annual operating revenue generated by the facility). The first phase of the reno will focus on things like concessions stands, the player facilities, suites and so on, with the second focusing on backstage improvements. “It’s 20 years later and we knew we would need a refresh,” said Peter Luukko, chair of OVG360. “The technology has changed — even how we serve food has changed. It’s time for a refresh.”

The upshot: Council will still have to give the final green light to the project ― that will likely happen next week. The city plans to fund the first phase of upgrades via the Tourism Infrastructure Reserve Fund. The fund uses a four per cent tax on hotel room stays with 50 per cent of the money going to capital upgrades related to tourism and the rest going to Tourism London. “It’s the people who stay in those hotel rooms, who put money into that fund,” Mayor Josh Morgan said. “It gives us something that aligns with the fund perfectly.”

Read more: Global News | London Free Press

Impact Wrestling live pay-per-view events hit the mat at Western Fair District Agriplex

Heads-up to all the pro wrestling fans out there ― the Western Fair District Agriplex is hosting two Impact Wrestling live pay-per-view events this weekend. It’s the third edition of Impact’s Under Siege series, with events scheduled for tonight and tomorrow night. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Impact Wrestling is considered the second-largest wrestling promotion behind WWE. It’s the third stop that the Impact series is making in Ontario this spring, with two previous events, one in Windsor and one in Toronto, held earlier this year. “This is huge, it’s a television taping that is going to be seen in 170 countries in 150 million homes worldwide,” Port Bruce wrestler Cody Deaner told CTV.

The upshot: There’s a local connection here, too, with two Ontario fighters set to take part. The first is Deaner, a regular with Impact; the second is up-and-comer Tyler Tirva, a personal trainer here in London who is hitting the mat in a tryout capacity, hoping to score a professional contract with Impact. “These next two days [Friday and Saturday] is going to be the culmination for me of everything that I’ve been working towards,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it nonstop for a couple of weeks now. So it's time to really bring it and show what I can what I can do in front of the live audience.” 

Read more: CTV London

London near the top of the list for pandemic job recovery in Canada

The London region posted one of Canada’s strongest post-pandemic recoveries in terms of jobs, according to recently released StatsCan data. The London census area, which includes St. Thomas and Strathroy, added nearly 42,000 jobs in the immediate post-Covid recovery of 2021, enough to rank us second nation-wide (Northern Saskatchewan posted the best growth). Overall, the numbers do a good job of telling the story: in 2019, London had around 342,000 people employed. Last year, we ended the year with around 390,000. “It was a fantastic recovery,” Emilian Siman, director of the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Workforce Planning and Development Board, told The London Free Press. “Things have been evolving positively in the last few years.”

The upshot: After some years of elevated unemployment and sluggish jobs growth, London has emerged as one of Ontario’s strongest labour markets in the last couple years, helped along by major projects like the Maple Leaf Foods plant and strong population and workforce growth. All available data suggest that the trends seen in StatsCan’s post-pandemic numbers have continued, too ― in Ontario’s most recent employment report, London clocked an unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent, beating the national average of 5 percent and the provincial average of 4.9 percent. “We know that our economy has been firing on all cylinders. The arrival of new employers such as Maple Leaf Foods, Aspire, Medicom and the upcoming VW facility, record construction activity, as well as workforce and population growth in our region is fuelling the pandemic recovery and our long-term growth,” added Kapil Lakhotia, president and CEO of the London Economic Development Corporation.   

Read more: London Free Press | Ontario Labour Market Report

Dispatch: May 26, 2023

A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week.

View listings here