Job fair attracts big crowd - WTVA
ACKERMAN, Miss. (WTVA) -- A new three-county economic development agency gets off to a successful start with a big job fair. And as WTVA's Steve Rogers tells us, if job-seekers didn't walk away with a job, they did at least get something valuable to them.
Almost 300 people turned out for a job fair hosted by the Governor's Job Network and The Enterprise, the new group pushing job recruitment and economic development in Choctaw, Montgomery and Webster counties. 20 businesses as diverse as Chili's restaurants to Nucor Steel, Red Hills Mines and Prestage Farms were on hand recruiting for jobs in six counties.
"We have multiple positions available from basic labor positions to very skilled positions like machinists and welders that our industries are neeing throughout the area," said Lara Bowman, executive director of The Enterprise.
And those companies were happy. Even HPJ, an Ohio company that is bringing 30 or more jobs to Eupora, has found skilled workers and a welcoming attitude.
"They've welcomed us with open arms. We've had people coming in, we get 10 to 15 people a day coming in. And the community is really excited to have us here as well as us being excited to be here," explained Chris Goodrich, one of two HPJ executives on hand for the job fair.
Most of the companies had lists of jobs they wanted to fill. That was encouraging to applicants. Weir resident Patricia Wingo has been looking for a job since June; she didn't get one Thursday but she found something she says she hadn't had in awhile.
"I met some great job prospects and one of the prospects gave me hope. So I'm looking forward to a follow up from that," she said.
The Enterprise region has been talked about for several years but finally came together last summer. That's when Bowman was hired. This was their first job fair.
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