For her first job, 16-year-old Julie Preston wanted something fairly modest. Instead, she broke into the workforce last week with the job title of “ambassador.”
Preston and fellow Ballenas Secondary School student Nolan O’Hara are serving as the youth ambassadors for the Parksville Downtown Business Association (PDBA).
Throughout the 10-week seasonal program, the pair will be paid to greet guests — both tourists and locals — and gather information, while helping to direct those guests into the downtown businesses that make up the association.
“I assumed I was going to get a job at the swimming pool right away because I had just finished my training,” said Preston, who spent more than a decade in synchronized swimming. “So I was like, ‘I’m going to work at the pool all summer.’ But now there’s this job. And I’m like, I’m interested in this. So I went for this job.”
Neither Preston nor O’Hara, also 16, plan to major in business in university or to necessarily work in hospitality.
But they bring a youthful exuberance and a strong skill set into their work for PDBA, said Pamela Bottomley, executive director.
“One of the reasons they were selected was because of their background with diverse people and diverse situations,” said Bottomley. “I had 15 applications and I interviewed 12, and they were all awesome in their own way. It was actually quite inspiring to see what super young people we have in this community.”
The PDBA is a non-profit society made up of downtown Parksville merchants located between the waterfront and Jensen Avenue and between McVickers and McMillan streets.
Each of these businesses pays a levy, totaling $150,000 annually, which is administered by a board made up of downtown property and business owners and operators.
Its mission is to administer and promote Parksville’s business improvement area, and the youth ambassadors’ role is to assist in that promotion by putting a public face to the society and its work, while hopefully directing people into those businesses.
“I’ve been living in Parksville for 16 years — so, my entire life — so I guess that’s one of the reasons I was interested in it,” said O’Hara. “It seemed like something I’d be proficient at, maybe.”
O’Hara and Preston will spend their days out among the public, answering questions, making suggestions and sometimes simply engaging guests in the downtown area.
“A lot of times it goes further than simple ask and respond,” said O’Hara. “The two of us will converse about where they’re from, and lot of times they’ll ask what we’re going to do with our lives.
“Just the other day I think we had a conversation that lasted half an hour. When people are curious, they’re willing to talk with us.”
The teens are the second set of ambassadors for the PDBA, after the program was launched as a pilot last summer.
Due to the success of that initial campaign, and Bottomley’s successful acquisition of a grant from the federal Canada Summer Jobs Program, the board approved another 10-week seasonal rotation for local youth.
“Some people at the (beachfront) boardwalk will mention they recognize us and they’ll say, ‘Oh, you guys are the new ones this year,’” said Preston. “So we’ll get recognition for that.”
Not everyone is overjoyed to see them coming. Despite new white-on-blue uniform shirts and hats — one child recently mistook Preston and O’Hara for police officers — O’Hara said they have been dodged by people who think they’re trying to solicit funds.
“It’ll be an obstacle to surpass, getting our names out there as a positive resource,” he said. “But overall it’s definitely a pleasant atmosphere in town. It’s been a very positive reception.”
For their first few days, the two moved around the streets, but found they were getting an average of only four “interactions” per day. On the fourth day, they went right to the boardwalk and let the people stream past them.
“We decided if we’re moving around it may appear we’re busy or not able to help,” O’Hara said.
Many of the questions they received last week in their first days on the job, they said, had to do with Canada Day activities and other activities available to do in Parksville.
And while their duty includes guiding guests to the downtown businesses, it’s the most gentle of pushes.
“We don’t want to pressure anyone to go somewhere,” O’Hara said. “If they’re asking for something outside of the downtown business area we’re not going to shun them. We provide assistance where necessary.”
He said he and Preston have also begun tracking and mapping wireless hotspots in the downtown core as a side project while outside.
“Last year’s team looked at the issue of pedestrian friendliness and how that could be improved,” said Bottomley. “It was something I didn’t plan to give them an involvement in; it was an add-on. But they were capable and interested in doing more. We’ll see where our team this year is going with this.”
Parksville’s mayor and council will find out when O’Hara and Preston appear at the end of the program to share their experience. The two were introduced to council Monday at its regular meeting.
