Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
LOOGOOTEE – COVID turned the job market upside down, creating a landscape where there were more people than jobs to one where employers are desperate for workers. While the job market is showing signs of returning to pre-COVID times, employers are still struggling to fill positions. An upcoming job fair in Martin County will give workers a chance to learn about job opportunities and prospective employers from the Martin County area.
Hosted by WorkOne South Central and the Martin County Alliance for Economic Growth, the
job fair will be from 2-5 p.m. on August 24 at the Martin County Fairgrounds on US 50. So far, 16 businesses have registered and the opportunity for Employer registration remains open until August 21.
Robin Branch, WorkOne Region 8 Business Services Manager, said the job fair is attracting a wide variety of employers. “We have Jasper Engines, health facilities, a floral shop, construction company and Crane defense contractors,” Branch said. “As long as someone is willing to work, there should be job opportunities for everyone.”
From 1-2 p.m., there will be a workshop on “How to Work a Job Fair” which gives participants tips for approaching employers and what questions to ask. To date, 50 high school students have signed up to participate in this session. Prospective employees should bring an updated resume, information to complete a job application and dress appropriately for a job interview.
WorkOne will have laptops available to fill out applications on-site.
Building a workforce
From July 2022 to June 2023, Region 8 assisted in hosting 38 Job/ High School Career Fairs and Resource Fairs and numerous mini-job fairs in County WorkOne offices throughout the regional offices which are located in Brown, Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange and Owen counties.
Before COVID, job fairs drew large turnouts of 200 or more seeking employment opportunities. Linda Eslinger, WorkOne Region 8 Business Services Consultant,
stated that, post-COVID, turnout averages around 40-50 jobseekers.
This will be the first time WorkOne has hosted a job fair in Martin County. Jessica Potts, executive director of the Martin County Alliance for Economic Growth, contacted WorkOne about having a job fair in the county.
“One of my first goals when I started this role was to get out into the businesses in Martin County and learn about what their wants and needs were. Several businesses in Martin County shared with me that they were hiring and in need of a workforce,” said Potts. “One business point blank told me that they host job fairs within their business, but if I could host a larger one to get them a bigger audience to interview, that would be a huge help.”
As director of the county’s LEDO (Local Economic Development Organization), Potts is always networking and looking to other partners to bring resources to Martin County. She contacted WorkOne about collaborating to build up local businesses.
“One of the first things they said they could help with was a Job Fair. I quickly said, ‘Let’s get it on the books!’ Working with a regional partner, who does job fairs on the regular, has made the planning for this job fair so much easier,” Potts added. “My job has been to get the word out in the county that we are hosting it, and they’ve taken care of blasting it out to potential participants in Indiana Career Connect (ICC).”
Job fair employers
The following employers and community agencies have registered for the August 24 Martin County Job Fair:
- Crane Credit Union
- Crane Army Ammunition Activity
- Graber Construction Inc.
- Grain Processing Corp
- Harvest Health & Rehab
- Heidelberg Materials
- HIRE (Hoosier Initiative for Re-Entry)
- Home Instead
- Hometown Flowers
- Jasper Engines & Transmissions
- Loughmiller Machine Tool & Design
- Meyer Distributing
- NSWC Crane
- Poplar and Sycamore Care Strategies
- Reynolds Construction
- USG
- Wabash Valley Correctional Facility
- Williams Bros. Pharmacy
- WorkOne South Central
- WorkOne Veterans
To register
Employers can register for the job fair through August 21 by contacting Linda Eslinger at [email protected].