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‘We’ve got the training, we’ve got the workforce, we just need to put them together’- County Mayor Jack Lynch
By Charlotte Underwood LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- A three-hour job fair was held at the Food City Shopping Center at Woodson’s Mall on Tuesday with 39 businesses and organizations set up.
Hundreds of high school CTE students, along with students from the Tennessee College of Applied Technology attended the event.
Career opportunities abound in Campbell County and hosting job fairs puts those opportunities front and center, according to job fair organizers.
This is the second year that a job fair has been held and “something the chamber and its partners plan on continuing.”
Earlier this year, a health-career field job fair was held, while Tuesday’s job fair was a “multi-employer job fair.”
According to Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Missy Tackett, “the job fairs were born out of the business and workforce development committee out of the chamber.”
“It’s so important to let people know what is available, there’s so many people in need of a job and we want people to know there are jobs available for them right here. We want to communicate and relay that information to people and help families and help them prosper right here in our county,” Tackett said.
She gave a shout out to Express Employment Professionals and the American Job Center Staff who were on site on Tuesday to “help with resume writing and interview tips.”
“We’re very lucky and very fortunate to have all the partners we have to help us get the information out to our county and provide this event,” Tackett said.
Tuesday’s job was made possible through local partnerships between the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce, the Campbell County Mayor’s Office, Roane State Community College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology Jacksboro, Campbell County School System Career and Technical Education programs, Express Employment and the American Job Center.
Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch said holding job fairs was “especially important since the pandemic” and that it helped “raise industrial awareness.”
“In a post Covid world, you have to train your own employees, so this is where we are building a system within Campbell County. We have a program to educate and employee EMS drivers for our ambulance services, we have the same thing for our truck drivers for the sanitation department, this is where it’s at. The kids in school are learning that there is a lot of money and good jobs that pay well in the fields where they can go straight into work after some training instead of going to college; before they were not pushing that idea, so we’re trying to do that,” Mayor Lynch said.
Local job and career fairs “highlight employment opportunities in the area, and educational opportunities as well,” with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Jacksboro, as well as Roane State Community College representing at the event.
“We have the best education system anywhere because we have Roane State here in the County, we have TCAT here in the county with a new building coming and new programs coming, it’s going to be wonderful. We’ve got the training, we’ve got the training, we’ve got the workforce, we just need to put them together,” Mayor Lynch said.
Organizers said it was “a very successful job fair, with a large turnout of employers and organizations, as well as potential employees and that the partnership with the school system had been a great fit for everyone.
“It’s a partnership that makes this happen and we’re very lucky to have it,” Tackett said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-10/23/2024-6AM)