Western Forest Products (WFP) hosted a dinner Sept. 10 to celebrate the success of two young Nuu-chah-nulth women who completed internship programs with the forestry company and the Nuu-chah-nulth Employment Training Program (NETP).
Invited guests joined Crystal Clappis and Estelle Edgar at The Clam Bucket where they praised the young women for their hard work and success in their summer internship programs.
Earlier this year, NETP put out a call for partners in their upcoming summer internship program.
“(WFP) put in a proposal which was accepted by NETP and the partnership was formed,” said Sarah Ozog, coordinator of Strategic Partnerships. In this special projects partnership, the principals hoped to find people looking for unique, on-the-job training opportunities.
They found that in Estelle Edgar, 28, who started her internship in June. She trained to become a recruitment specialist for WFP in the Port Alberni area.
According to Edgar, WFP made use of her traditional knowledge and explored ways to gain some added value from wood products that would benefit First Nations.
“We went out to the Sarita Dry Land Sort to see if cedar bark can be harvested from the freshly harvested logs,” she said.
They discovered that the cedar bark was still useful for weaving and Edgar harvested all that she could. With the help of her uncle, the bark was cleaned and prepared for weaving.
Edgar made a cedar hat and the rest of the bark is set aside until appropriate plans are made for its use.
Edgar also discovered her voice during her internship.
“I’ve always been shy but learned I have people skills that I never knew about and I can use that to help build networks,” she said.
While Edgar doesn’t have a job lined up at the end of her internship she hopes to one day take her skills home to Ditidaht and help build business partnerships for economic development opportunities for her people.
The partners also helped launch the truck driving career of Crystal Clappis, 37, who has now been hired full-time to drive logging trucks.
Clappis said she worked hard to find the funding to complete her Class 1 training. Last fall she was successful in acquiring funding from a provincial pilot project which paid the $15,000 tuition and fees at Douglas College. She completed the program and earned her Class 1 license.
But even with license in hand, it was difficult for her to find employment because she didn’t have the hours of truck driving necessary to land a hauling job.
It is the classic catch-22 situation; you need the work experience to get the job but you can’t get the job because you don’t have the work experience.
Through her internship program Clappis was able to gain more training time driving logging trucks and acquired the experience necessary to get hired full-time by a WFP contractor.
She will be working out of the Cameron Shop, hauling logs over the logging roads in the Bamfield/Alberni Inlet area.
“I think it’s great,” said Clappis of her new job. “I grew up in Bamfield and know the logging roads and my dad, Chester Clappis, was a hook tender for M&B for 30 years,” she said.
The training opportunities are made possible through wage subsidies provided by NETP.
“We are aligning First Nations interests with our own,” said Ozog. For example, if local First Nations want to increase employment and training in the forestry industry, WFP is in a position to offer that.
“We recognize that we operate in the territories of First Nations so our goal is to increase the benefits First Nations get from forestry operations in their territories,” she explained.
David Watts, Special Projects Coordinator at NETP, said the WFP Summer Intern employment program was one of 19 Summer Youth Programs funded through NETP, with a total of 40 students employed in 2014.
In addition, 15 special projects were awarded from NETP during this year providing work experience and training for upwards of 60 people throughout Nuu-chah-nulth territory.
“Seeing Western Forest Products Summer Youth Intern Estelle Edgar meet the challenges of working within the WFP corporate office to seek opportunities for First Nations to benefit from forestry development was inspiring,” Watts said.
“Experiencing the success of this Special Project Partnership with Western Forest Products, and seeing the success of Class 1 Driver Crystal Clappis in becoming a logging truck driver was exciting,” he added.
Besides gaining much-needed experience, the internship partner program allows students the chance to have an income prior to returning to school.
“It also builds bridges to success, and shows what can be accomplished by working together to attain our goals,” said Watts.
