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CentrePiece: Message from the CAO

November 19, 2009

Congratulations to HIEC for 20 years of partnership,
innovation and collaboration

As a long-time partner of the Halton Industry Education Council (HIEC), The Centre for Skills Development & Training is proud to have been a sponsor of HIEC’s 20th anniversary event. The much-anticipated gala took place at the Burlington Convention Centre on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

For twenty years, The Centre and HIEC have been on parallel and complementary paths. Through our work, young people and adults in this community have access to an incredible array of employment and career resources and services. We share a belief that our work is all about workforce development.

We also share the recognition that the world in changing. We’re witnessing a shift away from primarily physical jobs such as those in manufacturing, and toward the creative work of artists, engineers and doctors. Halton Region needs to prepare for today’s creative economy. With organizations like HIEC building bridges between industry and the workforce of tomorrow, we can achieve a vision of quality jobs for residents, and highly skilled workers for local businesses.

Who better to spark that vision of a creative Halton than Dr. Richard Florida? I had the great pleasure of standing before nearly 500 friends and supporters at the HIEC event to introduce Dr. Florida as the evening’s keynote speaker. Dr. Florida is one of the world’s leading public intellectuals. He is founder of the Creative Class Group, an advisory services firm, charting new trends in business and community. He is the author of a collection of global best-sellers, including The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?, in addition to being a regular contributor to various North American publications.

He is the Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto—the latest in a long career of research and education.

Dr. Florida’s ideas are being used globally to change the way regions, nations and companies compete. He identifies Halton as one of North America’s mega-regions, and we can be inspired by his belief that the future holds great promise—if we recognize that we sit on the front burner of the creative class. We will need to work together to achieve a shining future beyond the shift from an industrial to a creative economy.

And that is just what organizations like HIEC and The Centre are doing. Together, we can harness the momentum of our partnership and strive for a prosperous future in Halton. So congratulations to HIEC for 20 years of great work, and here’s to many years yet to come.

Kathy Mills