A Voice from the Eastern Door
The Akwesasne Arena Management Board (AAMB) made an announcement early last month that they no longer had funds for individual purchase of training. This is the first time in the AAMB history that they have run out of funding for clients. A component of the AAMB mission is to improve the skill level of the Akwesasne labour force, which encompasses the individual purchase of training for their clients.
The AAMB announced that their deadline for submissions for the 2010/2011 fiscal year was in July 2010, and that additional training applications would be reviewed if there were any funds left over from that initial call out. Due to the large volume of applications received by the deadline in July, all funds budgeted for the individual purchase of training was allocated. There would be no option for an appeal to the denials this time around because there just wasn’t any funding to cover all of the training requests.
“The budget we receive each year to provide programming and services to the Akwesasne community has not increased in the last ten years,” stated Millie David AAMB Manager. “The biggest threat for the organization is that we no longer have the flexibility to move around surplus programming dollars without first getting approval from HRSDC. ASETS is a program that demands a higher level of accountability without the additional resources that will assist us in implementing it,” added David.
The AAMB completed negotiations on their new contract with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), which is called Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS). Under this 5-year contract ending in March 2015 there are many changes to implement within the program. The AAMB is now employer focused which means that adult clients will need to show how their training requests fill the needs of current employers. The idea is to help meet the needs of the employers within Akwesasne.
Other areas identified within the ASETS agreement were the need for additional staff within the AAMB. Over the course of the next year four new positions will be created: a second Career Development Officer, Business Development Officer/Labor Market Analyst, AERC Coordinator, and Youth Coordinator. In preparation for the additional staff, the AAMB has moved into a larger facility to accommodate their new needs – this additional expense does not impact the programming budget for clients.
“With these new positions we will be able to provide more follow-up with clients and find the best match-ups with employers. With the additional people on board we do need more funds to provide adequate programming.” stated David.
The AAMB will be reviewing all of the programming from the previous fiscal year as they work on the budget for 2011/2012. They will send their call out for new applications for the individual purchase of training in the coming weeks and these applications will include the employer verification. As the other changes are being implemented the AAMB will do their best to ensure that public notice is given and to work with the Akwesasne membership, collectively and individually, to attain their goals through varying levels of training initiatives.
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