... He.says timber frame homes are particularly
-suited-to the Northwest because they can be very
5 energy-efficient:. The open plans. allow for good heat
4 circulation and the use of stress-skin panels allows
for an ‘unbroken insulation envelope. |
Norberg says his building enterprise is very
timely. As a value-added enterprise which could use
local products, he believes his business: could 1 make a
valuable contribution to: the local economy. "We hope
. to offer full construction services to lock-up phase as
: well as’ ‘develop several kit-form packages to sell at
any stage. Customers could purchase the timber

_frame already assembled and do their own finishing

or they could assemble the package themselves," says
Norberg. .

Besides the Northwest, Norberg sees the lower
mainland and interior of B.C. as potential markets.
He also, sees this timber-frame enterprise as having
future export possibilities.

— Kaeleen Bruce

Editor's note: Peter Norberg is not the only local
builder to revive timber frame housing construction

— Terrace journeyman carpenter Roger Wiffen has

also taken up the technique, establishing Timber Tech
Homes. °

CHANGES HELP

LOCAL EMPLOYMENT
CENTRE HANDLE LOAD

The number of claims for unemployment insur-
-ance benefits currently active at the Terrace Canada
Employment Centre has returned to the level of the
1982 economic crash, but CEC manager Shirley
Kimery cautions pessimists that many of the people
whose claims are active are in fact working, if
temporarily. —

Claimants tend to keep their claims going during
periods of temporary employment because opening a
‘new claim at the end of a.job requires the claimant
to wait two weeks without benefits. In addition, work
during a claim period adds weeks of employment
that can be applied toward establishing a new claim.

The CEC office is a substantially different place
than it was 10 years ago. Claims are processed
electronically through a mainframe computer net-
work instead of piling up as files on the desks of
already overburdened clerks, who would then have
sent them off to Vancouver by courier for further
processing.

As a result the office is processing material in
volumes equal to the worst period for unemployment
in local history, but doing it with a substantially
smaller staff. "We're probably one of the most effi-

cient offices in B. C., and we're the only one e that's

' full-service’ imemployment insurance office, an
~ employment programming centre anda program
‘delivery centre,” Kimery says.

_. The Terrace office performs numerous ‘regional —
tasks, including fact-finding for just cause on firings
and quittings, and appeals processing and Board of

' Referees hearings on claim disputes.

Alice Bannister was an agent at the Terrace CEC
office in 1982, and she recalls that there were a total
of six agents between Terrace and Prince Rupert for
fact-finding and eight or nine claim support agents in
Terrace, in addition to numerous other staff, The
situation here ‘was so bad that teams from. other

areas came in to help keep the workload to a reason-

able’ level and keep claims moving and benefits
flowing, The office now employs three agents for fact-
finding and four for claim support. The difference has —
been in technical change — computerized records and -
networking — and organizational changes that have
redistributed the workload among clerical. and
administrative staff.

Kimery says the office has improved both in
terms of efficiency and in client service. Job seekers -
can now inquire and get an immediate answer about
job openings booked through CEC’s anywhere west of ©
Winnipeg through the National Employment Service
System. The familiar National Joh Bank still pro-
vides print-outs of jobs registered with CEC’s across
Canada that can’t be filled locally, but the NESS
offers a list of all postings.

Kimery is expecting further technical improve-
ments in the CEC’s service. Within a year she hopes
to have two NESS computer consoles in the front

' office, allowing clients to. make their own inquiries

about jobs outside the area. The centre’s main
inquiry line, which is often flooded with calls on

_ Fridays and Mondays (the days when claimants are

expecting their benefit cheques), is slated for replace-
ment with a voice-activated inquiry system. Kimery
expects that change to decrease the frustration
clients experience when they can’t find out the status
of their cheques. Human beings, rather than elec-
tronic mechanisms, will still be available on the line,
she adds.

Claimant and cheque’ status information is now
on a Local Area Network system, meaning that when.
the mainframe computer is down data for some
inquiries is still available.

Canada Employment Centres are in many
communities one of the most prominent and heavily
used federal government facilities. For that reason,

-Kimery says, there may be a trend in next few years

to make the CEC’s function broader, to offer more
information to the public about federal government
matters. Kimery compares the concept to that of the
Government Agent, only on a federal rather than

- provincial level.

Terrace Review — May 15, 1992