By Ian Ross
Selling the virtues, lifestyle, and culture to restless Thunder Bay youth is the aim of a "cool and energetic" Web site being developed for launch later this winter.
 |
Tiina Ahokas, project assistant at Thunder Bay Ventures, says with much talk around town about finding solutions for youth out-migration and under-employment, the stayinthebay.com project will showcase all the good things about the community to encourage young people to stay.
The Web site, proposed and developed by Fast Forward Thunder Bay, a community development fund, and Young Entrepreneurs of Thunder Bay, will feature sections on youth-oriented events, recreational activities, and local success stories. Employment opportunities and career choices that young people can train for, and fields that they can find employment in within three to four years, such as Lakehead's DNA laboratory and the skilled trades, are also featured on the Web site.
They also hope to have a message board for young people to vent their feelings about the community.
Since most local media outlets focus their coverage and calendar of events on a more adult audience, there is a significant gap in communicating events and opportunities of interest for the 15 to 30 age group, as identified in a recent YES Employment Services survey on youth, says Ahokas.
Ahokas acknowledges that many adolescents leave for the "big city" to experience a different cultural element, "and that's what we want to showcase on our Web site, that there are those opportunities here, there are those ethnic restaurants and foreign films that maybe the general media isn't communicating.
"There isn't a place for young people to go where all of this information is available."
It is hoped the Web site will not only inspire young people to stay, but also serve as an incentive for former Thunder Bay residents to continue their careers at home.
"We find that a lot of young people who have already left and are living in Toronto are looking to come back to the quality of life here, and we want them to have a place to look to. Thunder Bay has a lot to offer," says Ahokas. "And for the younger 15-year-olds we're targeting them before they make the decision to attend university."
The Web site, to be tentatively launched the first week of February, received $5,000 in startup funding from Thunder Bay Ventures. They are also looking to businesses to advertise and other private money to help sustain it.
