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How to land a swell job with the city (in the middle of a pandemic)

Kathleen Heymans made ‘40 to 50’ phone calls before her interview
03-24-2002 rick van stavaren
Rick Van Staveren, Sault Ste. Marie’s director of economic development, announces two new appointments at Wednesday’s EDC board meeting

If the newest hires announced Wednesday by the City of Sault Ste. Marie are any indication, carpet-bombing civic officials with phone calls just might be an effective job-hunting strategy.

And if you work in any field requiring persuasive skills, a little hardball negotiating after they've made you an initial job offer might also help convince them you've got the right stuff.

"She's very good at networking," said Rick Van Staveren, who's been the city's Sault director of economic development since Jan. 11.

Van Staveren was announcing the hiring of Kathleen Heymans from Halifax as business development manager.

"Many of you may have received a call from her already," he told his board of directors during a Zoom meeting.

"She made probably, I would say in the area of 40 to 50 calls prior to her interview."

"She was already proactively planning and getting herself engaged in the community," Van Staveren said.

Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. also announced the hiring of Joe Turpin from Edmonton as business attraction manager.

"He's a sales guy," Van Staveren boasted.

"He has negotiated hard all the way through his onboarding and I respect him for that. That's the kind of people we want to bring in to get the best for the city. He's one of those people who'll be out, turning over every stone possible to bring business to Sault Ste. Marie." 

Turpin is a Sault native. Heymans' significant other is a Saultite.

Heymans will assume her new responsibilities on Apr. 11, replacing Nevin Buconjic.

Turpin will start here on May 24, replacing John Febbraro.

Here are their qualifications, as presented to the EDC board on Wednesday:

Kathleen Heymans

  • experience includes program lead, climate change unit, Province of Nova Scotia policy analyst, Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines, Nova Scotia Department of Energy
  • community and stakeholder engagement for the Atlantic Gold Corp. project
  • communications lead, Dalhousie University
  • holds an MBA from Dalhousie University and is certified in the Sandler Sales Training Methods
  • she is extremely good at networking and opening doors and has a positive and enthusiastic attitude

Joe Turpin

  • experience includes commercial banking relationship manager TD Bank, senior advisor economic development and trade, Government of Alberta and senior analyst enterprise market risk control, TD Bank
  • analyst valuation and control, TD Risk Services
  • holds a Master’s of Industrial Relations from Queen’s University
  • his current position is focused on selling high-value TD commercial products
  • is a mature and focused sales person with a strong understanding of finance and commercial real estate


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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