Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Akwesasne Community Support Program under Mohawk Council of Akwesasne recently hired participants to undergo a local “Labour Marketing Information Project.” The project lasted one month in June of 2013, and was designed to take a look at what the local job market entailed. The project culminated with a finalized report of the research activity found. The research group consisted of April Benedict, Shantel Leaf, Theresa Lazore, Allie Oakes and Raven Benedict. The group segmented the local labour market into 8 sections: Business, Hospitality, Health, Manufacturing, Construction, Government, Trades & Labor and Education. Several businesses and non-profit organizations shared their information for this project. We thank Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, Tarbell Management Group, Cornwall Community Hospital, Twin Leaf and other employers for the information and input they each provided toward the research. The targeted scope was set in Akwesasne as a primary search focus, secondarily Massena and Cornwall, and thirdly Malone and Ottawa.

The Community Support Program’s main goal in this initiative was to search and define where the jobs are, and in identifying educational and training requirements for those jobs. This report is now available for any community member or agency to read as a part of their own job researching activities. There are many jobs in the local market and in several segments of the market that can be accessed. Opportunities are available with the right education and training, and more so for youth looking to expand their careers.

The Akwesasne Area Management Board has suggested they may be planning on hiring a new Labor Market Analyst/Business Development position in the near future. AAMB staff acknowledged they could use this completed document as supporting research for continuing the work of the LMI team.

The research team, along with the staff of Professional Edge, guided the investigative methodologies. Linda and Lucien Lalonde, along with Lisa Lalonde-Boucher were essential to the success of the group by directing the research. The team identified their goals and accomplished what they set out to do.

Some important points specific to the research project the team discovered through their compilation of the labour marketing project were:

“Current studies have identified that teaching, health, business and social work continues to be the dominant areas for employment across the region.”

“Locally, with the exception of the gaming industry, there appears to be no significant fact that stands out concerning above average hiring. Most of the employment in these sectors will happen through the course of attrition.”

“At first glance the study was not encouraging. But as more research was undertaken, a new picture emerged that in fact supports employment growth in and around Akwesasne.”

Certainly there are other contributing factors requiring more research, such as training, education and upgrading of current skills. It is hoped however, this particular researching activity will contribute to the need for recognition of further activity into this area for the benefit of Akwesasne and the local economy.

Again, we like to thank April Benedict, Shantel Leaf, Theresa Lazore, Allie Oakes and Raven Benedict for their hard work and effort they did in completing this research project.