[September 2008]

Carla Wilber waited anxiously just offstage at the Jackson County Area Technology Center auditorium in McKee last Thursday.

Her upcoming performance would be critical, but she did not have to dig deep for her motivation: get a job so she and her 8-year-old daughter can have health insurance.

Wilber was one of 161 residents of Jackson and Clay counties who came to submit applications and speak to employers at a job fair hosted by the Clay County JobSight workforce center and Daniel Boone Community Action Agency (Daniel Boone CAA) in partnership with the Jackson County Board of Education’s Transition Unit.

Local manufacturers Phoenix Products, Phillips Diversified Manufacturing, and Precision Solutions accepted applications at the event.

“I just want a full-time job,” Wilber said.

When her turn came, Wilber mounted the stage, sat at a table, and spoke for a few minutes with Donna McQueen, a representative of Phillips Diversified Manufacturing.

McQueen answered Wilber’s questions about the positions her company is looking to fill, and asked about her background. Wilber was then free to move on to one of the other companies’ tables to repeat the process.

The applications Wilber and the other job seekers filled out will be combined with JobFit, JobSight’s online job-matching service that produces a thorough work-skills profile of each applicant.

Wilber and the rest will now wait for word on a job. Even those not chosen immediately are still entered into the JobSight system, and JobSight career advisers can then use JobFit and other tools and assistance available to help them find jobs elsewhere.

Phillip Arnett, Daniel Boone CAA’s Business Services representative, said the job fair went “tremendously well.”
Daniel Boone CAA took the fair seriously, he said, because the area is still reeling from the 2006 closure of Mid-South Electronics in Jackson County , in which about 400 people lost their jobs.

Recently released state workforce data shows Jackson County has the second-highest unemployment rate in the state and Clay County has the fifth highest. Many of those out-of-work people are former Mid-South employees, Arnett said.

Manchester resident Nicole Hamilton lost her job in the Mid-South layoff and is currently unemployed. It is “very hard” to find a job in Clay and Jackson counties, she said.

“There’s no jobs in Manchester ,” Hamilton said, but added that job fairs seem like a good idea to help her and others find employment.

In addition to a good turnout, Daniel Boone CAA was also blessed with “very cooperative” employers, Arnett said.

Daniel Boone CAA and the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc.’s (EKCEP) Business Solutions divisions were already working with the companies to assist them with their training needs for current employees when all three companies indicated they might soon need additional employees.

The Clay County JobSight operated by Daniel Boone CAA in Manchester is part of the JobSight network of workforce centers operated in 23 eastern Kentucky counties by EKCEP. JobSight “one-stop” workforce centers give job seekers and employers access to over a dozen state and federal employment and training programs and employer services at a single location.

Crawford Blakeman, EKCEP Business Solutions manager, said although the companies knew they would need new workers, “they weren’t sure where they would find the people.”

Blakeman said EKCEP and Daniel Boone CAA asked the companies to allow them to host a job fair to help find those new employees.

Representatives of the companies who were in attendance at the job fair said they felt the process had worked well to both provide them with numerous applicants to choose from and simplify their search for new employees.

Charles M. “Mike” McQueen, safety coordinator for Precision Solutions, said his company is not currently hiring, but it anticipates taking on new contracts in the near future that may allow it to expand its workforce of 45 employees.

McQueen said Precision Solutions needs employees who are highly skilled self-starters who can work with minimal supervision. The company currently manufactures general products like icemakers, but also makes a high-tech bomb detection and scanner system for airports.

The latter product requires that employees develop high technical skills and be able to work on their own as well as in a team. He praised the job fair as very helpful to the company in finding “good candidates.”

Arnett said future job fairs will be scheduled as requested by area employers. JobSight job fairs are free, and are an excellent way to raise awareness of a company, recruit a large pool of applicants to one place at one time, and reduce the costs of adding to a company’s workforce, he added.

“A JobSight job fair really is a great tool for our employers,” Arnett said.

For additional information on the JobSight network or EKCEP’s Business Solutions services, call Phillip Arnett at 606-598-5127 or EKCEP Business Solutions Manager Crawford Blakeman at 606-436-5751.