Dave Schellenberg, Niagara Casinos
My name is Dave Schellenberg. I am a licensed Master Electrician. I have the honour of being married to my wife for 21 years. We have three daughters, one has finished post-secondary, one is starting post-secondary this Sept. and the third will be attending post-secondary next year. We have instilled in them the power of having a career and how that can impact the small corner of the world that we live in.
I have volunteered my time at the Southridge shelter, coaching and refereeing minor sports. I was in construction for 24 1/2 years prior to taking a maintenance job with Niagara Casinos.
I had no idea where my career would lead me. Over the years in construction, I had the privilege to work in Abu Dhabi, Bahamas and throughout Ontario. Volunteering my trade skills for Habitat for Humanity has positively affected change.
I would define community leadership as leading by example by giving back to the community. I grew up playing sports and appreciated the many hours dedicated by the coaches and organization reps. I have in turn coached hockey, baseball and was a referee for 1 O+ years.
In my view a major issue our community faces is finding jobs for our youth.
With manufacturing jobs becoming more and more scarce in pur area many of our young people are forced to find work in their field elsewhere. Having said that, there is a shortage of skilled trades people in our region. There doesn’t seem to be an equal amount of interest between skilled trades and technology among our youth. I think that by making students more aware and by exposing them to the different aspects of the trades we could balance out this shortage.
In my opinion the most important attribute of a leader is being humble. I feel that self-confidence and self awareness create an opportunity to recognize the value of others without feeling threatened. A leader will take responsibility for failure and give credit for success.
The attribute I would like to expand on more is leading by example instead of by authority.
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