By Taylor Boyd
The Job Fair held at the Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) Stuart site last week was deemed a success by Rebecca Adcock, executive director of the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce.
Adcock said about 75 job seekers came through the event and talked to potential employers.
“I noticed a lot of them stayed quite a while either talking or filling out applications,” she said.
The chamber plans to email participating employers to get a concrete number of how many people were hired from the event, she said.
Companies participating in the event were seeking various numbers of employees, she said, and estimated that was from “a handful to up to 20 employees.”
Adcock added that one company, Eastman Chemical Company in Fieldale, hoped to fill 50 or more positions.
“I would say overall, there were at least 350 positions the companies needed to get filled collectively,” she said.
There are no plans to hold another job fair anytime soon. Adcock said the chamber discussed the possibility of holding one at Patrick County High School last year but was unable to do so due to COVID-19.
“I’m hoping that we might be able to do one this spring just to help with the graduating class and them trying to find summer employment, and of course allowing it to be open to the general public,” she said.
A pamphlet of hiring employers from the event can be found at the chamber or on the organization’s social media at Facebook.com/PatrickCountyChamberofCommerce.