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Randolph County job fair planned

The Randolph County Development Authority is spearheading a local effort to connect job seekers with job creators.

The RCDA, Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce, Davis & Elkins College and The Inter-Mountain are teaming up to host the first Randolph County Job Fair, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 26 in the McDonnell Center for Health, Physical Education and Athletics at D&E.

“The Development Authority and the Chamber hear from businesses all the time who are looking for employees and job seekers wanting to know who’s hiring,” explained Robbie Morris, RCDA executive director. “We hear it from both sides, so we thought we would put the two groups together and try to solve the two problems at once.”

The fair won’t just focus on jobs within the bounds of Randolph County. Employers from across the central West Virginia region and as far away as Hot Springs, Va., have signed up to participate. As of Thursday, 25 employers had signed up for the fair, and more entrants are streaming in each day, Morris said.

“We hope this will be beneficial to people not only in Randolph County, but also to people in the region,” he said. “There are a lot of jobs in a wide variety of sectors, including health care, wood products, retail, hospitality and tourism – just about everything.”

There is no charge for employers to sign up, and the event is also fee-free for job seekers.

Morris said the fair is fitting for college and high school students in search of seasonal employment, as well as people in the market for full-time jobs – and even those contemplating a career change.

“We encourage more employers to sign up and those looking for a job to attend,” Morris said. “We want to make this an annual event.

“From the Development Authority’s perspective, as well as the Chamber’s perspective, we want to make jobs available in Randolph County for anyone who wants to work,” he added.

Heather Goodwin Henline, Inter-Mountain publisher and general manager agreed, noting the fair will provide a much-needed service to the community. She said the paper wants to support the effort and is donating goodie bags that all participants will receive for use throughout the job fair to collect and store information from potential employers.

“We believe in this initiative and helping area employers connect with qualified candidates. This area is ripe with a qualified workforce, and we know good opportunities are out there for those job seekers who take advantage of them,” Henline said. “The Inter-Mountain, in addition to being a sponsor, also will participate in the fair and showcase our Monster job listings in which employers can post openings in our paper as well as online, and job seekers can upload resumes free of charge. We can’t wait to share more with the community about this exciting service as well as the Monster Match option that connects employers with the resumes of qualified candidates.”

Interested employers are encouraged to call Kris Wilmouth, RCDA administrative assistant, at 304-637-0803 to register. Employers also may register online by visiting the RCDA’s website at www.rcdawv.net and clicking on the link to “2013 Job Fair – Employer Registration.” Web browsers also may click on the “Employers Participating” link to view an updated list of participating businesses.

Contact Katie Kuba at kkuba@theintermountain.com.

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