Cochrane Board of Trade president Frank Louvelle is reporting great interest among students, in the PATH pilot project run jointly with Kap Data.
It’s a matchmaking service that connects the students to co-op employment or volunteer opportunities. About 200 have registered. The problem is businesses are not doing their part, completing their side of the survey.
“Right now, we have about 20 businesses,” Louvelle states, “but about 50 have already committed to saying they’d be interested in taking on a student. They just haven’t filled out the questionnaires.”
“It’s an opportunity with very little to lose,” he adds. “If you take on a co-op student, you find someone that helps you in the future and there’s minimal investment on the part of the business.”
At the very least, the student gets a line on their résumé for applying for other jobs or post-secondary education.
Kap Data is running the pilot project with software it developed. Louvelle says it hopes to run the first batch of questionnaires from both sides, beginning next week.
Complete details are available in our complete interview with Frank Louvelle, posted below.