It's a familiar refrain in Kimberley these days -- another government funded service is being cut back. Along similar lines as the changes taking place at Summit Community Services, where a new agency has won the RFP ( Request For Proposal), Alpine Employment may be closing its doors in the future.

Alpine Employment Resource Centre has been in operation since January 1999 (now located in the former COTR building on MacKenzie Street), under the management of Steele O'Neil and Associates Inc.

However, the model for funding employment centres is changing, and Steele O'Neil will not be rebidding on the next call for proposals.

Alpine Employment is currently funded through the Canada British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement. The Province has announced that provision of services will be changing as of April 1, 2012.

What is very likely to happen says Barb O'Neil, is that services will be more centralized and the impact will be greatest on smaller communities like Kimberley and Invermere.

The proposed changes could see 300 employment centres across BC closed by early 2012 and services offered by 120 major centres instead. In all likelihood, Kimberley residents will be serviced out of Cranbrook. It will be up to the bidders and the Province to determine if Kimberley will have itinerant services or a satellite office.

"The concern is there will be no physical office where people can come," O'Neil said.

The basic services offered by Alpine Employment provide everything needed in assisting on a job search -internet, telephone and fax, photocopying, employment counselling, assistance with referrals to Skills Development and Employment Benefits, self employment programs, Columbia Basin Trust funding as well as referral to other programs and resources.

But it's the intangibles that will be missed most, O'Neil says.

"People come to the centre looking for information," O'Neil said. "It could be they are looking for information on housing or programs or just want to use the free computers. Centres like this are part of the community and offer access to a lot of different programs and resources. People come in here and leave feeling more positive, that there is something that can be done for them."

The worry is that with only one centre in Cranbrook, people in outlying areas will be forced online to try to access programs themselves.

Not always easy, O'Neil says, especially for those not computer literate.

"Without employment centres in town, the public at large will not know what is offered," she said. "That type of information is not just out there. This is the only public place where people can find out about these government programs."

Alpine Employment assists approximately 400 job search clients per month and hosts approximately 7000 visitors per year, which is a significant amount for a small area.