Centralia City Manager Forrest Langenfeld says the city will tackle the problem of a shortage of workers head-on with a regional job fair on Balloon Fest weekend in August.
The Greater Centralia Regional Career Expo at the Castle Ridge resort was announced during a news conference at Centralia City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Centralia Mayor Bryan Kuder welcomed everyone by saying this will be a great chance to see a new career.
Langenfeld says this is a much different type of challenge than the city and the nation has faced in the past.
“40 years of working in the economic development world always the problem was how do you attract businesses to come to your community to create jobs? Well for the first time in this lifetime that is no longer the biggest challenge. Our existing businesses are having to attract workers to fill their jobs. It’s a very difficult task. We have businesses closing early in our community no longer keeping seven-day workweeks in some cases in some of our retail. Our manufacturers are delaying expansions.”
Langenfeld says the Expo will go beyond a job fair and Balloon Fest is a perfect tie-in.
“It’s a wonderful weekend in itself so what better way to showcase our community to potential job applicants from the target area we are going to be marketing which is Champaign to Paducah north and south, from Evansville to St Louis Riverfront, we are marketing for people looking for new or better career opportunities to come here in our highly diverse workforce.”
Langenfeld says they are shooting for 1,500 to 2,000 looking for careers and more than 50 employers with openings to be on hand.
Greg Sutton of Castle Ridge says they will be able to handle up to 120 employers and will set aside computers for the filing of applications and interview rooms so interviews can be completed on the spot and jobs offered.
He reports unlike the past three Centralia Job Fairs he was involved that attracted an estimated 1,000 job seekers, this time they will also concentrate on the city’s offerings beyond the job from daycare to housing to the quality of life for those who may be looking to relocate.
“We don’t want them just to get the job just to lose it a week later so we are going to have other resources available towards retention. Some may be skill training resources that can be available both to the individual and business to help develop the skills of the new employees so they can better qualify for the jobs that are available.”
Sutton says the Centralia-dot-Works website will be used for the posting of available jobs by employers and the posting of resumes for those seeking jobs that will be available to employers.
The job fair will be held on Friday, August 20th, from one to six pm, and on Saturday, August 21st, from ten to two pm. More details on the Career Expo will also be posted on Centralia-dot-Works.
Businesses that are interested in being part of the job fair can contact Centralia Assistant City Manager and Economic Development Director Derek Sherman.
