Leanne and Paul Chandler, owners of The Lindi Corp, talk with prospects who were interested in working with their company at the second ‘Putting Mesquite Back To Work’ Job Fair held at the Casablanca Casino Resort on Sept. 21, 2015. Photo by Stephanie Frehner.
On May 12, Mesquite Regional Business, Inc. in conjunction with the newly formed Mesquite Works program will host the third Putting Mesquite to Work Job Fair from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Eureka Casino Resort in the Grand Canyon Room, 275 Mesa Blvd.
The event has gained momentum since the first one held in February 2015, when there were 520 employable attendees with 17 businesses looking to fill positions. At the Sept. 21, 2015 job fair, there were 18 employers and only 280 job seekers. Of those, however, 20 percent were hired on the spot by the employers.
Kim Woolsey, the Human Resources Manager for Primex Plastics, says that the twice-annual job fairs have helped them in the long run even though they go through Express Personnel for their hiring.
“It’s benefited us greatly. Mesquite has a difficult problem with so many open jobs and not enough people to fill them. We’ve had such a great turnout. “
At the last job fair, Woolsey said that they hired one person that day and five the following week. This year they have four positions to fill and are hoping that the right people come into the job fair to apply although it isn’t always that easy. “We try to hire entry level positions. The people that apply tend to need more basic skills.” To assist with that, Jeff Powell will be offering a “How to Interview” class on Monday, May 9 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the College of Southern Nevada Mesquite Campus. For more information and to sign up for the event, call Brandy Jenkins at 702-208-8445 or email bcarnahan@mrbnv.org.
As part of the Mesquite Works board, Woolsey also encourages more businesses to participate. “We’re hoping more employers will take advantage of this event. Some may not have immediate openings, but gathering those resumes have helped us in the long-term to have that nice pool of people to pull from as needed.”
As of Monday, eight employers had signed on for the event, with one reportedly from Las Vegas according to Carnahan. So far, these employers include Star Nursery, Do It Best Corp, Mesa View Regional Hospital, Express Personnel and the casinos, Mesquite Gaming and Eureka Casino Resort as well as others. It is likely that the Eureka will be shopping for resumes to fill positions with the Rising Star Sports Ranch that is set to open in December.
