15 residents ready to work at power corp head office
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Baker Lake (Feb 21/01) - Living in Baker Lake paid off for Clara Noah last fall after the Nunavut Power Corporation chose the hamlet for its new head office.
Her resume was just another document piled in a stack of 200 when the company let residents know it would be offering a training course for new employees.
After the mountain of applications was shaved down to 15, Noah's still remained.
"The fact that we were having a head office in Baker Lake is what intrigued me the most," she said. "It gives me the feeling that they have the trust in me to do something."
The 15 applicants took part in a training program from September to December to learn how to run the 18-person office.
They learned business basics and prepared for a career with the new territorial corporation that will officially split from the NWT Power Corporation this spring.
The trainees happened to fall into varied categories; older and younger people, men and women.
For months they studied and learned under the guidance of two instructors. Now they have webbed out into accounting, payroll, human resources and purchasing.
"Everyone was offered a permanent job at the end of the program," said Rick Blennerhassett, NPC's CEO and president. They really knitted together as a coherent group."
At this point the trainees are undergoing on-the-job training, but by April will be slotted into full-time permanent positions and making permanent-employee starter salaries of $19.53 per hour with tacked on benefits.
"We are very pleased with the turn out from the community and the quality and work of these people," Blennerhassett said.
From a Baker Lake resident's perspective, Noah said she feels confident and proud of herself as she and one other trainee work in accounting. She said having the NPC anchored in Baker Lake will change her career outlook for the better.
"It gives a lot of people the opportunity to work," she said.
Often Noah is stopped walking down the street by inquisitive residents wanting to know how her new job is going.
"That's a big thing," she added. "It's encouraging that there are people out there who will give us a chance."
