At its General Committee meeting on September 27, councillors heard from Explorers’ Edge and their Catalyst Housing project, a project which will aim to attract and retain employees for the tourism and hospitality sector in exchange for training, mentoring as well as subsidized housing for a two-year period.
“We know from a regional level that there’s 1,300 full-time positions and 4,600 part-time positions. So now it’s time to go into the specific subregions within the area, drill down find just exactly what’s needed in more detail…so we can flush out what housing looks like, what the training programs look like, and what the needs look like,” explained Explorer’s Edge CEO James Murphy.
A report provided to committee indicates that many workers have left the industry, particularly during the pandemic, and the shortage is making it difficult for the sector to operate at full capacity.
The Catalyst Housing project would aim at developing tourism sector employee opportunities from within the community as well as attracting people from outside of the area, explained Murphy.
Councillors heard that the project could be expanded to serve other industries and that Huntsville has been chosen for the tourism Catalyst Housing project due not the number of tourism accommodations in the area.
Explorer’s Edge has been working with the Town’s Lauren MacDermid, Economic Development Officer. She was before committee in support of redirecting the Town’s $15,000 allotted for Business Retention and Expansion in the 2023 budget to the project. The funds do not come from the tax levy but from the Municipal Accommodation Tax, noted MacDermid.
“Not only does this concept support the tourism and hospitality industry, it also is a potential model that may support other fields and needs of workers, such as health care and trades,” said MacDermid, adding that supporting the project will also enable the municipality to gather important Huntsville-specific labour gap data.
“Huntsville is a tourist town and people come here for a reason. We don’t really need to keep spending more and more money for people to come to a community that they already do. What we need to spend the money on is the infrastructure and the businesses and all of the things that we do have here to keep people coming here and that’s what I really like about this strategy,” she said, adding that she also likes that the project can branch out to other areas, as well as providing opportunities for youth to stay in the community.
Other councillors also expressed their support for the project.
You can find more information in the staff report, HERE.
You can also find out more about the program from Explorer’s Edge (RTO 12), HERE.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
I agree with Paul Kuebler and Linda Coleman.
From reading the actual proposal, it feels as though the focus continues to be on filling positions that exist to make short-term visitors more comfortable here. While this is not a bad thing, and it’s good to see local tourism thrive, there’s a marked lack of support, and frankly care, for the people that live here.
I know many people in their 20s-40s that have had to move away due to not being able to afford to live here, which further exacerbates this labour gap. Strong, smart and educated people who already lived here, and would be working here still if there were better affordable housing options.
Linda Coleman is right on the money!
And I would be more specific, and focus on our Healthcare workforce. Why do we keep putting $$$ ahead of our LOCAL basic needs.
If the pilot works for Healthcare workers, THEN expand to the hospitality workforce, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
This sounds good but are we factoring in those families and singles how are already in trailers on friends properities and motels and is child care expenses figured in. Before we house new residents. Most of these residents already work in the area and have lost their homes due to expense and economy. They are two income families. Single parent families. Most have finished their education and are a vital part of our community. Why not start there to show others we can house and provide long term.
I am interested in hearing more too. The only action item I saw in the news article was about a survey.
I’m very interested in learning more about Huntsville and the housing pilot.
Susan Gorrie