Employers, job seekers come together at job fair

KEARNEY — Employers who participated in Thursday's Central Nebraska Job Fair said they encounter a variety of challenges filling vacancies and making new hires for expansion. Among the challenges is finding candidates in a region where the unemployment rates are among the lowest in Nebraska.

Custer County's 2.2 percent unemployment is lowest in the state, and Buffalo County's 2.7 percent isn't far behind.

Twenty-six businesses and employment agencies were at the job fair, organized by the Kearney Hub and sponsored by Baldwin Filters, a partner of Parker Hannifin.

"It's been a good, decent turnout. The quality of candidates has been good," said Ryan Brown, recruiting coordinator for The Buckle. The young people's apparel company was hoping to attract applicants in three specific areas: E-commerce, distribution and guest services, Brown said.

The Buckle is expanding its online sales, and also is seeking to bolster its customer and store support services and fill second shift and part-time positions, including at its warehouse.

Brown said Kearney has a tight labor market. According to Brown's partner at The Buckle booth, Shauna Melson, it can be especially tough finding help in the summer when college students leave town and create vacancies.

Melson is The Buckle's assistant manager for guest services, and has 40 in her department.

"We're trying to grow our team," she said.

A number of major manufacturers were present at the job fair along with medical and long-term care facilities. Some employment agencies were offering referral bonuses.

Also on hand were representatives of financial institutions, including First National Banks' Becky Feltz, assistant branch manager for the company's main bank in Kearney.

"It's awesome to have such a low unemployment rate, but there are challenges," she said.

Feltz said that she and her partner, north branch manager Nathan Dorsey, were aiming to reel in candidates for part-time tellers.

"We're fortunate that we are in Kearney. We can utilize the University of Nebraska at Kearney students," Feltz said. She said First National was promoting its management training program to attract candidates for professional positions.

Dorsey said 48 percent of First National's higher skill positions are filled through internal promotions and that a lot of part-timers stay on hoping to snare a full-time job with opportunities for advancement.

Also participating in the job fair were retailers, food service companies, warehouse operators, and businesses looking to fill clerical, trades and social work vacancies.

The Kearney Hub's marketing and audience growth director Scott Casper, who organized Thursday's job fair, said the Hub was encouraged to pursue the event because Kearney businesses face hiring challenges, especially because of the tight labor market.

He said the Economic Development Council of Buffalo County contacted local human resource managers and discovered there's a demand for job fairs.

"The recruiting climate in our area is very tough with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation," Casper said.

He said about 350 job-seekers visited the job fair.

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