News Article

College signs Pan-Atlantic newspaper ad sales training contract


4/9/2008 11:43:52 AM


Atlantic Community Newspapers Association Vice-President Shawn Woodford and College of North Atlantic President Jean Madill sign an agreement for a special contract training initiative for newspaper ad sales staff across Atlantic Canada.

College of North Atlantic (CNA) President Jean Madill and Atlantic Community Newspapers Association (ACNA) Vice-President Shawn Woodford signed an agreement this morning for a special contract training initiative for newspaper ad sales staff across Atlantic Canada.

CNA is the lead community college and one of four community colleges getting ready to deliver its first offerings of customized professional sales training for seasoned and new ad sales staff in ACNA’s 64 member newspapers in May.

The signing marks the end of months of planning with other delivery partners including Holland College, New Brunswick Community College, and Nova Scotia Community College – all members of the Atlantic Provinces Community Colleges Consortium. The training contract with ACNA also involves coordinating agreements with the nationally recognized Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA) and Protraining.com in conjunction with the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA) and Robert McInnis.

“College of North Atlantic is excited to launch this relationship with the newspaper industry in the Atlantic Region to help meet its strategic objectives for member newspapers, their ad sales staff and their clients, and to take a lead in this new pan-Atlantic contract,” said President Madill. “The return on investment in training is well-documented, and ACNA and its member newspapers are demonstrating leadership and good business sense through their employer-sponsored training.”

Woodford agrees.

“As my employer and a member of ACNA with 14 community newspapers and two dailies in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 19 community newspapers and specialty publications and six dailies in the rest of Atlantic Canada, , Transcontinental Media is excited about this turnkey training initiative. This relationship allows the ACNA to make professional sales training accessible to all member newspapers. All of us expect a positive return for our clients and their bottom lines, for our ad sales staff and their relationships and results, and for our industry and its professionalism, profile and people development.”

Beginning in early May, each of the four community colleges will deliver in one location in each province the first offering of a three-day face-to-face CPSA Professional Selling Program customized for newspaper ad sales. This training, based on validated sales research, developed in conjunction with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, will be supported by individual coaching by a CSP-certified instructor in each province specially trained for the ACNA contract. The final step for staff will be a test for certification for the nationally recognized designation CSP – Certified Sales Professional.

ACNA will recognize and celebrate ad sales staff that have successfully completed the Professional Selling Program and CSP designation at its Annual General Meeting in Halifax from May 30-31.

For newer ad sales staff, the colleges will provide coaching support by their province’s CSP-certified instructors for the second component of the initiative, an On-Line Ad Sales Program developed originally for Alberta newspapers. Features include newspaper ad sales content organized into 10 topics, online tests and private online access for each member. As these staff reach the two year sales experience milestone, their community newspaper employers will have the opportunity to access the customized CPSA Professional Selling Course and testing for certification for the CSP designation.

Ad sales staff in 14 community newspapers and dailies in Newfoundland and Labrador, all ACNA members, will have access to this new professional sales training: The Compass, The Packet, The Beacon, The Advertiser, The Labradorian, The Coaster, The Aurora, The Pilot, The Southern Gazette, The Charter, The Gulf News, The nor’wester, the Northern Pen and the Georgian.

College of the North Atlantic offers more than 100 full-time programs and over 300 part-time courses to more than 20,000 learners throughout Newfoundland and Labrador each year. The college is also a leader in customized contract training for business and industry throughout the province.

The Atlantic Provinces Community College Consortium (APCCC) is an interprovincial mechanism promoting and supporting the strategic development of regional collaboration, coordination, and sharing of resources among the Atlantic community colleges. This consortium, which reports annually on its activities to the Council of Atlantic Premiers, is officially recognized through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the provincial ministers responsible for community colleges and the presidents of the community colleges in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

The Atlantic Community Newspapers Association (ACNA) is a non-profit association with member newspapers located throughout Atlantic Canada. Its member newspapers boast a combined audited circulation of over 400,000 copies weekly and are an integral part of the communities they serve. A trusted source of information, community newspapers reflect the community back to itself through images, stories and ideas, providing readers with a sense of pride, identity and belonging.

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For further information, contact:

Ken Sims
President
ACNA
(902) 863-4370

or

Stephen Lee
Manager of Marketing and Communications
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7721