Employment Services Centre produces Breaktimes to connect careers and community

They are called Breaktimes, and they are a new effort by the Employment Services Centre of Prescott-Russell to connect with the community and learn about careers and life in various areas of business. 

The series of podcasts and Youtube videos is designed to address topics and issues related to employment featuring conversations with employers, community members, job seekers, and retired people. 

Centre Executive Director Caroline Arcand said Breaktimes are part of an effort to modernize the facility’s communications with the community. 

“We want to have people giving a voice.” 

Arcand explained the centre is about more than programs and services and there is a need to help people with employment needs realize they are not alone. 

“We want to be less corporate.” 

Approximately 18 Breaktimes episodes are being recorded in English and French, featuring people from various professions and backgrounds, from across Prescott and Russell counties. Some of the people who are featured include L’Orignal physiotherapist and La Baie Run organizer Patrick Lalonde, Hawkesbury restaurant owner and town councillor Antonios Tsourounakis, and Publisher of The Review and realtor, Louise Sproule.

Anne Charbonneau of St-Isidore is being featured in one of the Breaktimes. Charbonneau is a musician and composer who has worked in Las Vegas and for Cirque du Soleil. Entrepreneurs Alain and Chloe Lapensee of La Binerie du Plantagenet are also featured, along with Danik Lafond of the francophone farmer’s organization, l’Union des cultivateurs Franco-Ontarien. 

The Breaktimes videos can be accessed on the Employment Services Centre of PrescottRussell’s Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGSrOdZSCla9ti7E7d5if4w , or at the centre’s website csepr.ca .