The search for a new grants committee coordinator in McLennan to aggressively pursue potential grant funding opportunities within the community is now over. Sliding into the new position is Tracey Beaudette, a resident of the Municipal District of Smoky River who resides south of the community. Beaudette, a bus driver with High Prairie School Division No. 48, was handed the reins as grants committee coordinator after being selected as the candidate of choice by the McLennan grants committee in late December. She has received her one-year certification from Northern Lakes College in the area of office administration and is presently working towards a diploma in the business administration program. “We’re very pleased to announce the formal hiring of Tracey as the grants committee coordinator,” said McLennan Councillor Lawrence McNeil (town representative on the tourism society) at town council’s Jan. 12 regular meeting. Beaudette officially began the new position (based out of the Associate Medical Clinic in McLennan) on Jan. 5. “Sliding into this position provides me with a unique opportunity to develop advanced skills related to effective research for proposals and business plans,” Beaudette tells the Express. “I’m looking forward to working with the various community organizations in an effort to meet their objectives. The grants committee coordinator has served on several committees in the past, a role which has given her a bird’s eye view of many of the road blocks standing in the way of local organizations in their quest to obtain grant funding for projects which benefit the local community. “I’m well aware of the many obstacles facing organizations in this day and age. My responsibility as grants committe coordinator is to help remove those obstacles and barries by relieving some of the financial pressures for these organizations,” she adds. Beaudette is presently trying to familiarize herself with the various roles and responsibilities involved with the new position, which is subsidized jointly by upwards of 10 community-based organizations in addition to the Town of McLennan. “What Tracey is requesting right now are some ideas and a sense of direction from these organizations to help address their respective priorities and needs,” Coun. McNeil added. “Every organization is encouraged to bring four or five ideas forward to her as the basis for a starting point.” Part of that process began to take shape on the evening of Jan. 8 when she met one-on-one with executive members of the McLennan Curling Club Society to learn more about its plans and targeted goals regarding the construction of a new multi-use community centre adjoining H.W. Fish Arena. The curling club, one of the organizations subsidizing Beaudette’s position, is hoping to utilize the services of Beaudette to tap into potential grant funds which can be used to offset the cost of the projected $3.2 million facility. “We need all the help we can get in terms of funding support to make this community-based project a reality,” acknowledged curling club president Rita L’Heureux at the recent meeting. The concept behind the addition of a grants committee position was introduced in September of 2008 by McLennan Tourism Society chairperson Dr Pieter de Wet. Beaudette’s overall job description involves working jointly with the grants committee (consisting of representation from the various involved community organizations) as a key liaison in helping to address and identify local needs and available grant funding opportunities. The position is expected to alleviate much of the time and guess work which goes into researching and applying for grants – a commitment which all partnering community groups simply don’t have time for. The eventual goal of the tourism society is to make the grants coordinator position as self-sustaining as possible through the acquisition of available grant funding.