Business View Civil and Municipal l January 2023

166 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 ministries and reports back on how some pilot projects are working in the areas. One such pilot project is WOWC’s workforce strategy, and if it is successful, it will be shared for other communities to roll out. The data collected from these pilot projects are shared with municipalities via monthly newsletters and bimonthly meetings with members. WOWC’s agendas are also shared at these meetings. If members miss the email or meetings, they can search for the data on the WOWC website, wowc.ca, and the workforce microsite, which has all the workforce data. In addition, the WOWC also shares this data with the workforce planning board and partners like the Community Futures Workforce Western Ontario and local immigration partnerships. “By building strong relationships with our partners, we’re able to get the word out about pilot programs. WOWC is all about sharing information that will improve communities, “ Burns Gallagher says. In the next few years, the WOWC is optimistic but aware that the landscape has changed dramatically after the pandemic. Over the last two years, there’s been a shift from attracting businesses to welcoming new people to the region. These individuals, as mentioned, will need training.Burns Gallagher says she won’t be surprised if there is a development in regional branding to attract people. “We need to fill those 214,000 vacant positions. It’s a massive component of the work we’re doing. Our caucus needs to bring our partners and members together to entice people to the area,” says Burns Gallagher. And for the WOWC itself, over the next three to five years, the focus is to improve the area’s local economy. With good planning and excellent management, the caucus knows that the Western Ontario region will flourish.