Job fair aims to keep people in Southern Tier - WBNG-TV
December 30, 2014Updated Dec 30, 2014 at 6:38 PM EST
Johnson City, NY (WBNG Binghamton) The new year is just around the corner and hundreds of job seekers hope to land one in 2015.
A bi-annual job fair aimed to fill local positions and keep people in their home town.
Project Homecoming, a bi-annual career fair, was held Tuesday, Dec. 30 at the Oakdale Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"We have 55 companies that are registered, financial sector, health care, education, and manufacturing. You name it there are job openings across the board really," said Lou Santoni, president and CEO of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce.
Santoni said career fairs, like this one, are beneficial because companies see these particular applicants as more than just a paper resume because they have met and talked face to face.
"You get a chance - one on one - to visit with 50, 55 personnel folks. You're just not a piece of paper, you can put a face to the piece of paper," Santoni said.
While the career fair offers dozens of options for a local job seeker, the Southern Tier has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Some companies said career fairs will help change that number.
"Just getting the word out that positions are out there, and positions are available," said John Sassani, human resources manager for Raymond Corporation in Greene.
For recent Mansfield University graduate Andrew Prusack, of Springville, PA, this job fair is another attempt to break into the work force.
"The online thing hasn't really been working for me thus far so, I figured it would be nice to get in some physical applications and see how that works out for me," Prusack said.
The December job fair not only targeted job seekers, but students home on break from college and young professionals home visiting family for the holidays.
"One of the things that we have to overcome is the loss of the young folks. They come here, they graduate and many times they leave. We need to let them know there are jobs available for them," Santoni said.
Santoni said more than 800 people attended the career fair.
It was held by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce and the Broome County Industrial Development Agency.
This was the second job fair of 2014. The next one will be in June 2015.
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