North Battleford's battered reputation for crime is having a negative impact on recruiting employees.
That is the indication from officials at the Batttlefords Chamber of Commerce, who want to see some stepped-up employee recruitment efforts and information to counter some of the negative perceptions out there about the community.
Officials at Tuesday's monthly directors' meeting of the Chamber made clear this issue was a growing concern for members.
Executive director Linda Machniak noted one person in particular had contacted them on the issue of recruitment of a medical professional to the community.
The individual accepted the offer and had committed to come, but problems started arising afterwards.
Machniak said the family had been on the Internet and "started raising questions about security for this young person, young lady, in this 'crime-riddled community'."
"I'm not saying that's where we are, I'm just saying that's what people see when they go on the Internet," said Machniak.
The challenge for the prospective employer, she said, was "trying to close the barn door when the horse was out," because he had not addressed the issue during the interview or in offering the job, Machniak added.
Chamber president Ryan Moe noted that in the end the individual did end up not accepting the position after all.
In response, the Chamber has indicated they want to step up efforts to counter those negative perceptions in recruiting individuals.
Machniak said she had talked to the city as well as other officials to see if there is interest in doing an "enhanced recruitment" package that could "tell the other side of the story or another side of the story to cut down on some of those lost opportunities there."
She called the issue "something members are feeling more critically all the time, and even though we know that's not the situation, that's certainly the visage people are getting," said Machniak.
Moe said mayor Ian Hamilton and city manager Jim Puffalt in North Battleford were open to a partnership to create such a package in their last meeting.
Moe made clear, however, the need to do more than simply say "things are awesome." The challenge was to show what steps were being taken to alleviate the crime and "actually addressing what is perceived to be an issue," he said.
"Whether it's real or perceived, we need to address it, because people are taking it as truth, whether it is or not," Moe said.
