The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page THE HERALD Wednesday May 1989 Upgrading program saves jobs at Unilock Chamber Made Eleven employees or per cent of staff will not be laid off from December to March of next year as a result of recently having upgraded their skills Before attending a fiveweek maintenance course at Sheridan College this past January these employees were only qualified to operate equipment used by the plant in manufacturing paving stones the companys production manager Phil Hardy said Die Georgetown Unilock plant manufactures a variety of paving stones used in the construction of thoroughfares ranging from walkways to industrial streetscapes The company has plants in Pickering Barrie Buf falo Chicago and Michigan Ac cording to Mr Hardy Unilock is the largest manufacturer of paving stones in North America As the period from December to March is the companys off season the plants equipment is completely overhauled during this time so only the specific skills of its maintenance staff is required Mr Hardy explained The workers received fun damental training in pneumatics hydraulics mechanics and welding qualifying them to per form minor equipment repairs Their newly acquired skills means the group will be employed during part of the plants offseason Mr Hardy said To be employed for the entire off season they would have to go back to school fulltime and obtain an electrical engineering degree Mr Hardy said Both Mr Hardy and the employees- have seen the benefits of the program Our down time is significantly less the period when a machine breaks down and is repaired so production is up Mr Hardy said As for the employees they are richer In previous years the 11 had to rely on unemployment in surance payments from January to March but from now on they will receive their full wages- for part of this period Of the program the employees all expressed satisfaction Only the older of the group being away from school for a long time show ed any reluctance to participate in the program Mr Hardy said But they soon overcame their hesita tion he added Mr Hardy said the company would never have been able to af ford the program without a federal grant through the Halton and Peel Industrial Training Advisory Committees Apprenticeship Pro gram obtained the grant from the federal governments Skills Invest ment Program The grant paid for the employees tuition and per cent of their wages while in school Mr Hardy said The company picked up the remaining costs Mr Hardy said the company is so enthusiastic about the program there are plans to have the par ticipate in a more advanced train ing program next January When asked if a lot of other seasonal companies are upgrading their workers skills he was doubt ful because few know about the available government money If they did they would jump at the chance There is a shortage of skilled workers out there Mr Hardy said Chamber is communitywide Which of these statements are correct All teenagers are trouble makers All trade unionist are com munists All politicians are corrupt All business people are get-rich- quick artists Of course none of these statements are correct they are all stereotypes that certain people have of each of the above groups Recently the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce took a stand in regards to the Isaac Walton Fly Fishermans Club by sending a let ter to the Minister of Environment a copy of which was published in this paper We knew that our position would not be popular with everyone in the community but as taxpayers we have every right to express our point of view Our letter also pro mpted other letters to the editor one which categorized business people as getrichquick artists which is an unfair label to place on the hardworking business people of Halton Hills The Chamber is made up of both large and small companies and it should be noted that none of the developers who are building south of Georgetown are members therefore we do not represent their interests Many of our members operate small businesses working long hard hours they are not get- richquick artists Take time to examine who you deal with during the day in our HP STORE HOURS 930 am600 pm except Thursday Friday pm CityStyfos CfosvToHomil Street Georgetown 8777361 NORTHVIEW CENTRE business community the small shop keeper where you buy milk the insurance broker the mechanic who services your car the restaurant where you have lunch the baker the butcher the list is endless none of these people fit the image of getrichquick ar tists Our business community pro vides many local people with employment places to shop ser vices that we all need and con- tributes not only time but money for many worthwhile community events Our members not only operate businesses in Halton Hills most also live here they are responsible citizens of- Halton Hills involved with a large variety of service groups AGM tomorrow The Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce will hold its Annual Meeting on Wednesday May 18 at noon hour at the Sacre Coeur Hall Guelph St Georgetown This will be the first annual meeting of the Halton Hills GEORGETOWN SPA FITNESS CENTRE EXCLUSIVELY YOURS 8771924 Eleven employees who recently completed a fiveweek training program at Sheridan College stand with their diplomas and the programs In structors outside one of the plants main work areas In the front tow are left to right Phil Hardy Tom Logan Keith Buxton Instructor Mike Wilson instructor Russ Curtis John Bob Sweeiie In the back are Robert Soth Darrell Or- Dave Morris John SIbson instructor BUI Mcintosh Keith Swiier and George Herald photo STEVEN C FOSTER BALLB BARRISTER SOLICITOR 37 MAIN ST SOUTH GEORGETOWN ONT L7G3G2 tel4168734961 68734962 Chamber of Commerce since the merger of the Acton and Georgetown Chambers Garth Turner MP will be the guest speaker for the noon hour meeting and with the recent budget there are sure to be ques tions and concerns about the economy raised Tickets are still available by calling the Chamber office at 8777119 Back to Acton on June 24 The Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce is planning a repeat of the very successful Back to Ac ton Days on Saturday June Downtown Acton will be transformed into a pedestrian mall from Frederick St to Main St merchants will display a large variety goods for sale In addition to the regular merchants on Mill St other vendors will be there to supplement the variety of products For further information please contact the Chamber office at 8777119 OFFICE MAGIC St Georgetown HOURS MondayFriday 900 am 530 pm Saturday am pm Fine Line Markers for accounting mi columnar tot Una drawings Colours Black fled Blue Green SWIOPP SWPP Fin REGULAR 1199dz Speedframe Converts tie drawer lor use hanging otters Can t adjusted for tatter or legal 1169 Typewriter Auto return 12 paper capacity writing 29900 12 pitch Weighs Itafos Calculator IJCM count commas Printer switch Buttered key board Four function memory Gross margin key data key Storage cord Uses standard add rol2bs 10500 SUPPLIES SECRETARIAL SERVICES agiM rr J