Elevate Plus aims to train graduates for job success

The JBS food plant, located on Jamieson Bone Road, is one of the factories in the Belleville area that hires graduates of the Elevate Plus program. Photo by Jordan Mills, QNet News

By Jordan Mills

BELLEVILLE – With labour shortages a big issue across Canada, a Belleville training program aims to get people into the workforce and give them the tools to succeed.

Elevate Plus teaches those who sign up how to work in the manufacturing industry, with a focus on the Quinte region. Affiliated with Loyalist College, the program is free of charge and is fully funded by the Quinte Economic Development Commission. People of all walks of life are eligible to enrol, whether they are young or old, have a criminal record, a physical or mental disability, have battled some form of addiction, or just need a change of employment. Depending on the course material, it runs between four and six weeks.

Tracey Rush-Letford, a recent graduate of the program, is now working at the JBS seafood plant in Belleville. The 47-year-old mother of two had to leave her previous job due to an illness, and after a few years off decided to get back into the workforce. Initially, she enrolled at Loyalist College in the developmental service worker program, but found out it wasn’t quite for her.

Tracey Rush-Letford graduated from Elevate Plus and is now working at the JBS food plant. She encourages others to sign up for the program. Photo courtesy of Tracey Rush-Letford

“I saw an ad for (Elevate Plus) on Facebook,” Rush-Letford said in an interview with QNet News. “My friend convinced me to sign up for the program and actually applied with me.”

Her friend didn’t go through with the program after the initial interview, but Rush-Letford was accepted and started taking classes in early September.

A goal of Elevate Plus is to help grads find a job suitable for their specific abilities and geared toward their individual talents. Rush-Letford said it gave her confidence to start working again after a long time off, and helped put her future back into her own hands.

“They make you feel like anything is possible,” she said. “You go in there thinking you can’t do it, but you find out you actually can do it.”

Rush-Letford is one of over 300 people who have graduated during the program’s eight-year existence. Another class will start this coming Monday, with seven people currently signed up.

Mike Hewitt, a site co-ordinator for the Quinte Economic Development Commission who works closely with the program, says Elevate Plus doesn’t just offer grads a manufacturing job – it gives them a sense of security and belonging. It helps them to know that they’re good enough to contribute and thus boosts their feeling of self-worth, he said.

“What does a job give you? A job lets you provide for your family, lets you advance, and lets you do more than you’ve got right now. It lets you be there for your kids.”

With manufacturing playing a big role in the Quinte-area economy, Hewitt said, a shortage of workers could start causing negative effects in other sectors that rely on the goods those factories produce. That’s another reason why Elevate Plus is needed, he said.

With the COVID pandemic winding down, more people are deciding that it’s a good time to try to get back into the workforce, he said.

“We are starting to see a little bit of a shift with the cost of living going up. People might be on (the Ontario Disability Support Program), but if that’s not enough to cover what they need (financially), they’re now looking to see if they can get into a career. (Elevate Plus) is an easy way to do that.”

Not everyone is cut out for the manufacturing industry, though. Some participants end up finding non-manufacturing jobs that better suit them during their time in the program, and that’s OK, Hewitt said. Elevate Plus gives people tools, skills and information to better their lives, he said, adding that over 70 per cent of all graduates are in a better spot: employed, back in school, or operating their own small business.