30-second elevator pitches made at Monsef’s jobs summit

Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef hosted about 60 people at a jobs summit in Peterborough on Wednesday.

Business leaders, economic development professionals and a few jobseekers gathered at the Lawn Bowling Club on McDonnel St. to talk about employment and quality of life in Peterborough.

There was a chance for all to stand and give what Monsef called the “30second elevator pitch”: a quick summation of your job and your latest project.

Later Monsef, the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha, allowed everyone to mingle and connect in short sessions she called “speed networking.”

There were participants from the city, area townships and Curve Lake First Nation.

There were also participants from employers such as Trent University, Fleming College, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, the Innovation Cluster (which fosters technology startups) and Cleantech Commons (the forthcoming clean-tech business park at Trent University).

Coun. Diane Therrien was there too, and she urged participants to speak with candidates through the upcoming provincial and municipal elections about how they’d like to foster a flourishing job market.

She said she knows from experience that it isn’t easy getting permanent full-time work in the city.

“I’ve been in precarious employment a long time - as many millennials are,” she said.

There were a few newcomers to Peterborough in the room who are looking for employment.

Bashar Al Asfary, a medical doctor in Syria, has lived in Peterborough nearly 18 months. He said he’s not working as a doctor here; he’s been developing a new sleep-aid device, as well as a drug, to treat sleep apnea

and snoring.

He said he wants to bring his idea to market because better sleep can boost productivity and overall health.

“This is not just for personal health but for all society, actually,” he said.

Katie Haddlesey, economic development officer for Curve Lake First Nation, told everyone in the room she’s looking to find new ways to offer transit to the reserve.

Curve Lake has started a self-funded, pilot bus service: since September, a 21-seat short bus has made four round trips daily from Curve Lake to Peterborough.

It’s been popular, she said: they’ve been giving 250 rides monthly.

But it’s also expensive; they’ve applied for provincial grants to try to fund the bus, Haddlesey said.

Meanwhile Husayn Dharshi, who moved here from Toronto six months ago, recently started Transit One, a new citizens advocacy group for better bus service.

Dharshi said he was offered a job when he first moved to Peterborough but couldn’t take it because there was no transit service to get him home when his shift would end at 11:30 p.m.

Instead of packing up and moving back to Toronto, he said, he decided to start an advocacy group to push for better transit service.

“Transit is my life - it’s the only way I get around,” he said.

Participants at the Job and Quality of Life Summit were asked to sign up for various working groups that will gather over the next eight weeks to develop plans around areas such as transit, housing and women in business.

“I know that together, if we’re paddling in a direction that makes sense, we’ll get something done,” Monsef said.