July 8, 1998
(Development and Rural Renewal)

Clarenville information technology group forms co-operative

A group of people in Clarenville have formed a co-operative to pursue contracts in the information technology industry. Random Access Consulting Co-operative has been created by nine people who have received training in information technology. Four are former fisheries workers who used training opportunities provided through NCARP and TAGS to learn new skills.

They received praise from Beaton Tulk, Minister of Development and Rural Renewal Tuesday. Speaking to the Clarenville Chamber of Commerce, the minister congratulated the participants. "We need people like you as role models to demonstrate that communities in all parts of the province can participate in the global information economy," said the minister.

In recent years the College of the North Atlantic at Clarenville through its telematics program has trained many people in information technology. This has produced a nucleus of skilled workers in the Clarenville area. Last year they formed an association of information technology workers to act as a forum for discussion and self-help. They concluded that they would be better served if they could market their services as a group. In January 1998, they began forming a workers' co-operative.

Jim Winter of the Newfoundland - Labrador Federation of Co-operatives guided the group. He says self-employed people seeking to break into the IT market sometimes have difficulties. Alone they may be too small or unable to sub-contract work, making it difficult to bid on larger contracts. "Information technology involves many and varied skills that are not always all available in one person," he said. "Random Access Consulting Co-operative was a logical outcome."

"By April we were up and running sufficiently to take on a project for the College of the North Atlantic," said Sandra Vaslett, president of the co-operative. Working with two local companies, Natural Media and Educational Consulting Services, the consortium won a major contract to create a distance learning website.

All members of the co-operative have completed telework courses with the College of the North Atlantic. Previous work includes building a database for a doctor in Peru, determining patent rights for a Spanish firm, finding all the Canadian colleges, libraries and universities purchasing multi-media courseware, and most recently designing a web site for St. Jude's Hotel. The group aims ultimately to market its services to national and international clients.

Beaton Tulk said that the Clarenville office of the Department of Development and Rural Renewal has assisted the co-operative with business planning support and marketing advice.

"The Random Access co-operative is to be congratulated for its initiative," said Minister Tulk. "It is doing those things that my department encourages, namely: economic diversification, entrepreneurism, starting businesses in rural Newfoundland, creating export potential and creating new jobs."

Contact: Clifford Grinling, Communications, (709) 729-7066.

1998 07 08                      9:35 a.m.