• Accompanied by the Canadian ambassador, representatives of both institutions met at Fundacion Chile to strengthen their strategic alliance around Elige Crecer, an initiative focused on training human capital in the Region of Tarapaca, promoting networking, supporting local employment and strengthening regional vendors.

In order to reflect on the significant impact of the social value initiatives promoted by mining and, specifically, on the scope of the Elige Crecer initiative in the Region of Tarapaca, executives from Teck, a Canada–based the mining company, and Fundacion Chile (FCh) held a meeting in the auditorium of the public-private entity.

The meeting was attended by the director of Social Management and Communities of Teck, Herman Urrejola; the general manager of Fundacion Chile, Hernán Araneda; the Canadian ambassador to Chile, Michael Gort; the executive president of the Mining Council, Joaquín Villarino; and Human Development Manager of FCh, Valentina Quiroga.

It should be noted that Elige Crecer was born as a Teck initiative in 2019, with Fundacion Chile as the executory agency. This was a program meant to develop across-the-board technical competencies for the training and integration of local human capital in Tarapaca. Its purpose was to provide the inhabitants of the region with the necessary tools to apply to the network of contractor companies that were part of the construction of the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) mining project.

Given its successful implementation, the project later became the Employment and Local Vendors Strategy 2022–2025, whereby the mining company agreed to a continuing collaboration with Fundacion Chile. “Through the creation of public-private partnerships and continuing collaboration, Elige Crecer materializes Teck’s commitment to social and economic development in the region around four pillars: fostering networking, training local human capital, support job search and strengthening regional vendors,” stated Herman Urrejola.

Strengths of the Initiative

To consolidate the continuing collaboration between the two entities, Teck’s Director of Social Management and Communities, Herman Urrejola, and the General Manager of Fundacion Chile, Hernan Araneda, signed a commitment with an eye to the future of this fruitful relationship and with the benefit of the development of Tarapaca in mind. “Elige Crecer is an example of the journey of innovation, because it starts with a long-term vision focused on creating the conditions that will help local vendors to access development opportunities, and on strengthening people’s talent capabilities,” said Araneda.

For the latter executive, this joint work between Teck and Fundacion Chile is a good example of radical collaboration between both entities because of the linkage that has been built. “At Fundacion Chile we have accompanied the Quebrada Blanca 2 facility in a harmonious way, from its initial development and construction phase, to its operation phase in every aspect related to training human capital and creating opportunities for people to benefit from the investment. These are the building blocks of a good relationship with the environment,” he added.

To date, more than 120 training courses have been given in trades related to construction, food and catering, in addition to more than 3,000 training openings for women and men in the districts of Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Pica and Pozo Almonte.

This has had a significant impact: more than 13,000 people registered in the Elige Crecer database and more than 3,200 local inhabitants worked for contractors during the construction of QB2.

The partnership was praised by the Canadian Ambassador to Chile, Michael Gort, who positively valued the initiative promoted by Teck, whose headquarters are in Canada.

“Teck’s commitment to the socio-economic development of the Region of Tarapaca —in human capital training, employment and the strengthening of local vendors— is aligned with Canada’s, which prioritizes the participation of those people who have been historically under-represented, such as women and First Nations peoples, and acknowledges people as the center of commercial and business activities,” said Gort.

For his part, the executive president of the Mining Council, Joaquín Villarino, described the Elige Crecer initiative as a good experience for the mining world, because it reflects the vocation of linking up with communities in projects that create value for all parties and not just for businesses. “This is a project that contributes to solving the lack of trained human capital, which goes hand in hand with a return to the community, one that manages to train and change their life paths. The linkage with the local training institutions themselves gives them a sense of belonging and a greater likelihood of outreach over time,” he said.

New Challenges

The Elige Crecer strategy continues to reap important rewards and is currently focusing its efforts on including young people and women to create more openings for them in the local industry.

Its main achievements include the Digital Literacy and Educational Leveling programs, the Operator and Maintenance Training program for Quebrada Blanca, and the formation of Red Pro Norte, a platform to boost the supply of regional goods and services.

This collaborative work was joined by the Mining Skills Council and Emprende Joven through Rock Star for Mining, together with other Technical Training Organizations, to develop the Early Training Program in special fields of study at professional and technical high schools in Tarapaca; the aim of this program is to enrich their curricula and provide them with new tools, which will allow students to graduate from their high schools with greater capabilities and skills for employment.

The above program is being carried out in four schools in Iquique, Alto Hospicio and Pozo Almonte. It benefits 160 students and more than 20 teachers of five special fields of study in the participating high schools; the latter will be able to access the CCM Quality Seal, which certifies the skills taught according to mining industry standards.

Elige Crecer‘s planning for the year 2023 includes the implementation of 15 new training courses —with more than 350 openings for men and women in the Region of Tarapaca— and continued networking opportunities, vendor support and job preparedness for entry into the labor market.