Labour Market Update - Annapolis Valley

 

Michelin Tire has extended its work-share program to April 2010 for about 500 employees.   Service Canada accepted Michelin’s application in April to start an 18-week program, reducing the hours of participating employees and topping up their reduced paycheques with Employment Insurance Benefits.  The program would have wrapped up in August, when Michelin expected to be able to re-evaluate market fluctuations; instead, the company and Service Canada have extended the work-share another 32 weeks, to April 3, 2010.  The work-share program has allowed Michelin to avoid layoffs and maintain their workforce, even in the wake of dramatic drops in the truck tire market.  Kings County Register – September 10, 2009

Proprietor Scott Geddes of the Woodshire Inn and Cocoa Pesto Bistro in Windsor has applied for a lounge license and plans to open “Strays” this fall.   The Lounge is already under construction.  The Woodshire Inn and Bistro currently employs 27 people most of whom are full-time, and he adds this new enterprise would look at providing more than a dozen new positions.  A decision by the Utility and Review Board could take up to 60 days to finalize.  Hants Journal – September 24, 2009

Representing more than 900 faculty and professional support employees of the Nova Scotia Community College, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union filed strike notice with Labour and Workforce Development Minister Marilyn Moore on September 23.  Kentville Advertiser - September 29, 2009

George Moody, chairman of the Kings Mutual Century Centre campaign committee commissioned an economic impact study through Acadia University this spring.   The building project will go through $15 million in phase one which is currently underway.  The province contributed $4 million and the federal government $4 million - an $8 million injection into the local economy.  The winning construction tender came from Cambridge’s Roscoe Construction.  The study indicates $4 million will go directly to construction wages with local contractors doing site excavation, concrete work, electrical and other services.  Kings County Register – September 10, 2009

Plans for the Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre’s (KRRC) to purchase and develop the former Kings County Christian School property on Highway 1 in Cambridge were scrutinized at a public meeting on September 17.  The KRRC wants to place a rehabilitation facility on the 5.7 acre site, zoned Institutional 1.  Kings County Register – September 24, 2009

After 10 years of discussions and planning, the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve Association will be getting its first real startup funding.  West Nova MP Greg Kerr delivered a $285,000 speech in Annapolis Royal announcing that the UNESCO-endorsed biosphere reserve project will receive $57,000 each year through 2013 from Ottawa and hinted that depending on outcomes, funding might continue annually.  Nova Scotia Business Journal – September 3, 2009