DANVILLE, Va. – On Tuesday, the Danville Community College and area nonprofits held their largest employment and resource fair to date at the Community Market.
There were approximately 1,300 unfilled jobs, and more than 50 firms from the local region wanted to fill them.
“Everyone needs help,” said Jerry Wallace, President of Danville Community College. “Even at the college, we have a couple of postings that are hard to fill. So, we want to be of service to the employers in our region to make sure that they know that we can have a set spot where everyone can connect and reach their goals.”
Everyone, regardless of prior work experience, was welcome to attend the job fair since it was completely free of charge.
“If someone doesn’t have a GED, if they’re looking for those services, we’ll have people here for that, as well as those coming back into the city and the county as far as coming out of incarceration. We want to make sure that everyone has a place in there to get connected to the employers because, at this point, employers are looking for people who might have felonies,” added Wallace.
There were more than thirty different kinds of community resources there to help local people. These included social agencies, health groups, and others.
“We’re helping them get around those roadblocks to become successful, because you can’t have success without resources as well,” said Paul Farrar, director of the DCC Tare and Cape Program. “Those resources can help you along the way to get that job and to become self sufficient later on, so you’ll be able to care for your family.”
“It’s two entities to where you have employers and resources at the same time to help the individual because they might not need employment,” explained Barry Mayo, recruiter for the DCC Tare and Cape program. “They may need the resource and that’s what it’s all about. This has been a huge turnout for us because of that.”
