By Al MacLeod
The high demand for skilled labour gives community colleges a significant opportunity to provide small and medium businesses with valuable employees according to Dan Kelly, senior vice-president of Legislative Affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Kelly made the comments during his keynote speech at the Association of Canadian Community Colleges Annual Conference hosted by Holland College in Charlottetown recently.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, a public advocacy group, has been a voice for Canadian small business in every sector for more than 35 years, and has more than 105,000 members nationwide. The group, through regular member surveys, lobbies for small-to-medium-sized businesses at the federal, provincial and local government levels.

Kelly, who was named one of the top 50 most influential Albertans in 2002 by Alberta Venture Magazine, said independent businesses require and plan to offer additional training in the next three years. While a large number of companies prefer to do in-house training, there is increased interest in formal training outside of the company.

"I think this provides community colleges with a significant opportunity," he noted.

In a survey conducted by the CFIB, member satisfaction with sources providing skilled employees was clearly led by one group, Kelly said.

"Community colleges top the list."

Even in a time when the country is in the midst of an economic crisis and unemployment rates are up, there is still a high demand for skilled workers, he said.

"The skilled labour shortage we face in Canada is quite significant."

According to surveys conducted by the CFIB, small and medium business spend approximately $18 billion a year on training, which means the opportunity for trained college graduates to find employment is growing, Kelly said.