FUTURES CIRCLE RECOGNITION EVENT
The “FUTURES CIRCLE” event was held on May 6, 2008 at the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton. It recognized and honoured the contribution and support of CAREERS valued investors. Supporters who have invested in CAREERS for five years, ten years, and more were inducted and welcomed into the esteemed “FUTURES CIRCLE” membership.
The CAREERS mission is to inspire, enable, and develop a skilled workforce. Since1997, the CAREERS message has reached over 225,000 young people and placed over 10,000 student interns. Without the vision for a future quality workforce and the generosity of our investors we could not provide the opportunity for these young people to reach their true potential and be a part of the solution to the skills shortages challenges of Alberta’s growing economy.
The evening began with a welcome from Eric Newell, CAREERS Board Chair. Eric acknowledged special guests including: The Honourable Ron Liepert, Minister of Alberta Health & Wellness, The Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Alberta Aboriginal Relations, Maria David – Evans, Deputy Minister of Alberta Aboriginal Relations, Kerey Henke, Deputy Minister of Alberta Education, Shirley Dul, Assistant Deputy Minister, Alberta Advanced Education, Apprenticeship and Industry Technology and Jerry Handford, CAREERS Board Director.
Eric introduced four attendant CAREERS student ambassadors: Nicole and Tessa Flewelling from the Road builders Program, Joey Romaniuk from the Health Services Initiative and Coralyn Whitford a RAP Hairstylist Apprentice.
Andy Neigel, CAREERS President & CEO welcomed two CAREERS prestigious student alumni presenters and the five and ten year investors who shortly would be welcomed into the “FUTURES CIRCLE”.
The first student to give his testimonial was Steve Weiss, President & CEO of Quality HVAC. Steve was one of CAREERS first Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) students over 10 years ago. Steve shared that he was fortunate to enter the newly created RAP program and it was wonderful timing for the right career decision. He went on to explain “at that time, I felt there was a stigma towards the trades as a secondary career path. RAP opened my eyes and showed me that this was not the case and that being a tradesperson was a great career and path that I wanted to follow”. Today, Steve’s company has blossomed and employs over 35 workers in 2 facilities in Edmonton and Calgary and is now a RAP employer, grooming the next generation of student apprentices.
The valued ten year investors were presented with a plaque of appreciation on behalf of CAREERS, students and stakeholders, and welcomed into the FUTURES CIRCLE. This group included:
· Alberta Advanced Education & Technology, represented by Shirley Dul
· Alberta Education, represented by Kerey Henke
· Alberta Health and Wellness, represented by Ron Liepert
· ATCO Group, represented by Greg McNeil
· Enbridge Pipelines Inc., represented by Lori Campbell
· Imperial Oil Foundation, represented by Karen Reiter-Stecyk
· Suncor Energy Foundation, represented by Mark Hodson
· Syncrude Canada Ltd., represented by Jerry Handford
Acknowledgement was given to the Calgary Board of Education, unable to attend the event.
The second student to speak was Ian Connolly, an intern from the Health Services Youth Initiative who went on to graduate as an Occupational Therapist and is now working at Glenrose Hospital in the same location of his internship over 5 years ago. Ian spoke of the opportunity that this program provided to him to discover a career path that he was not aware of prior to entering the program. Ian thanked the investors for their contribution and support that led him to a career that he is both excited and passionate about.
The five year Futures Circle members were inducted:
· Alberta Employment and Immigration, Shirley Howe
· Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Bill DeWeert
· ALGOR Enterprises, Alex Gordon
· Canadian Fertilizers Limited, Chris Ernst
· Construction Labour Relations An Alberta Association, Ron Cherlet
· Electrical Contractors Association of Alberta, Sheri McLean
· Encana Corporation, Mary-Ann Blackman
· Eric and Kathy Newell, Eric Newell
· Health Sciences Association of Alberta, Elisabeth Ballerman
· Jerat Enterprises Ltd, Jerry Heck
· Petro-Canada Ltd., Dave Lindsay and Richard Labrosse
· Shell Canada Limited, Dave Crowder
A special acknowledgement went out to the following companies who were not able attend the event:
· Alberta Finance
· BP Canada Energy Company
· CADMUS - The Calgary Foundation
· Calgary Health Region
· Calgary Motor Dealers’ Association
· Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1
· Capital Health
· Cardinal Coach Lines Limited
· Edmonton Motor Dealers' Association
· Edmonton Public Schools
· Enerflex Systems Ltd.
· Finning (Canada)
· H. Wilson Industries Ltd.
· Labbe-Leech Interiors Ltd.
· LMT Enterprises Ltd.
· Motor Dealers' Association of Alberta
· NAIT
· Nexen Inc.
· Southland Transportation
· The City of Edmonton
· Waiward Steel Fabricators Ltd