Seeking success: Job hunters flockt to career fair

The following is an excerpt of an article written by Marty Finley of The News-Enterprise. This article appeared on newspaper's website Thursday April 18. The full article is available online at https://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/seeking-success-job-hunters-flock-career-fair

Tommy Harris manages a moving company that specializes in residential and commercial relocation, but his schedule allows for a side job, which could bring more money in to handle the bills.

He was one of several job seekers who converged Thursday on Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown for the annual Regional Job and Career Fair hosted by the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce and Elizabethtown Career Center.

Harris spoke with several companies set up at the fair as he weighed his options, focusing on staffing agencies and corporate companies that might be able to afford a temporary position. He heard about the job fair through a friend and said he could use extra part-time work.

Chris Beebe and his wife, Kaita, were assessing the field and met with local factories to inquire about open positions. The couple expressed a special interest in Metalsa, which had a booth at the fair and is undergoing an expansion.

The fair’s title sponsor was KyJobs.net, a product of The News-Enterprise and Landmark Community Newspapers. Roughly 46 booths were set up during the fair, representing a range of industries, including police and fire departments, universities, local manufacturers and health care providers.

Officers from the Fishers, Ind., Police Department drove to Kentucky to participate as it gears up for a new hiring process later this year. While the department travels to job fairs throughout Indiana, Weger said he believes the visit to Elizabethtown was the first out-of-state recruitment effort.

“We’re looking for highly qualified, highly motivated individuals that want to have a career in law enforcement,” he said.

Remington Arms’ booth was attracting its share of visitors as the company tries to fill a handful of jobs, primarily in specialty engineering positions, said Stephanie Hester, human resources specialist. Hester said the company has around eight local positions to fill in areas such as lab technician, computer aided design technician, metallurgical engineer and design engineer.

“We’re growing,” she said. “We’re a growing company, so this felt like a good fit.”