Want to know what Atlantic Canadians really like? Ask a New Yorker. Better yet, hire an expert from Toronto, or maybe find someone in Argentina who has never been to Canada, but will work cheaply.

This seems to be the philosophy of some local businesses hiring freelancers and consultants to fill contract positions, and it leaves highly skilled professionals living here, and probably patronizing those businesses, ignored. Hardly seems like a good way to connect with your client base.

It’s an issue Laurie Dolhan is addressing. Her online company, ContractMe.ca, matches job seekers with companies that need their services. Businesses looking for experts can search the online database or post a job and connect with local people who have a real understanding of the area and the people who live in it.

“There’s no need for a company to bring in outside consultants, we’ve got serious talent right here,” says Dolhan who has a background in marketing, and runs ContractMe.ca out of her Ketch Harbour home – or wherever she (the lone employee) and her laptop happen to be.

Hiring people from outside the area is not the only problem she sees. If a business owner is not focusing on their core business, then he or she is probably wasting time and money. It would be better to contract that work outside the company and concentrate on growing the business and expanding the client base, she explains.

Dolhan started ContractMe.ca after her family lost all of its possessions in a fire. The fire happened while Dolhan, her husband and young son were moving from the Yukon to Nova Scotia so her husband could start a new career. The adventure took a serious turn when they discovered smoke coming from the trailer that contained their belongings. Live ammunition and propane canisters were exploding because of the heat, so there was little the firefighters could do except close down the highway and wait for the fire to burn out.

Aside from a few items they had in their vehicle, everything was lost except for her son’s baby album, which a fireman found inside a cooler. That, and the courage for Dolhan to follow through on her entrepreneurial dream.

By Cathi Stevenson