The Fort McMurray Construction Association is launching two new initiatives aimed at helping local construction companies and workers.

They’ve created a directory which will help insurance companies, groups, and individuals find local contractors to help with projects in the region.

The FMCA says this was a recommendation they received from different insurance agencies as they had trouble finding local organizations after the Horse River wildfire and 2020 spring flood.

“They wanted one point of access to search for contractors, so as a membership organization we decided we were going to open up our directory to non-members as well,” said Lana Maloney, Executive Director.

She also shared a personal experience from 2020.

Her roof was damaged during the wildfire and her insurance was planning to hire a company from Red Deer.

Maloney ended up rejecting the offer, choosing to offer the work to a local company.

Meanwhile, the FMCA has also created a virtual board where individuals can share resumes.

Maloney says the main focus of the board is for companies coming to the region for work.

“Those companies that are being awarded work in the RMWB that are outside of our region can have a one point of access to try and find manpower instead of bringing their manpower with them from, let’s say, Edmonton or Calgary.”

So far, 29 residents have taken part, while there have been 24 jobs posted.

The directory and board can both be found on the FMCA’s website.