One could be forgiven a blasé response to news of another job fair. Pedestrian events, rote, just add water happenings. In fact, the very thought that such a thing would be covered as news at all would strike many cynical media types as superfluous.
There’s also the temptation to stop reading an article such as this right now (assuming you’ve made it here in the first place), if one of two things is not true. You are a person looking to improve your employment situation. Or, you represent an employer looking to hire talent.
But there’s a third group, and that’s what makes this story important. Forget about the complimentary shuttle that moved prospects from the table-top booth presentations setup at Liberty School, to nine of the recruiting companies themselves. Forget, too, the leveraged cooperation of the four distinct stakeholders that had come together to create this job fair: The Saline Area Chamber of Commerce, Saline Area Schools, Saline Main Street, and the City itself. [1,2,3,4]
Rather, as an area stakeholder who is connected with none of the above, this job fair provided a tangible overview of Saline as economic engine. A full three dozen companies were on the list to access available resources here yesterday; among them, they were willing to commit to over two hundred positions, needed to be filled immediately.
And that number does not include current hiring underway at Faurecia Interiors. Nor does this include the “thirty” employees that NAVYA said earlier today that it plans to hire in 2019 for its assembly facility at the corner of East Michigan Avenue and South Industrial Drive. For the first time in many years, employees have the advantage over employers. [5,6,7,8,9]
Earlier today, City Business Ambassador Mickie Jo Bennett told Saline Journal that she was struck by the number of mid-level and IT positions being offered yesterday. “As our first time out, I can’t really say we had ‘expectations,’ and we definitely have some ideas for the future in terms of working with the high school. But seeing more senior level job seekers yesterday — I was impressed.”
To be sure, with all of that comes growth that must be anticipated and responsibly answered by municipal resources. It also means that customer and support service providers will follow. Opportunity for businesses that are already here to sell their wares, serve meals, and provide entertainment to the very real people who come to work very real jobs. Even bigger picture, it’s a living opportunity to market Saline to increasingly larger captive audiences.
Take another look at the list of Job Fair organizers above. That’s a wide diversity of disciplines — all of which get it. It’s all the more impressive when you stop to think about what was needed for each to come out of their own silos, work outside their own fiefdoms, and set aside temptation to advance their own branding in favor of advancing all that Saline has to offer.
That is news. Not just here, but to locations where other businesses might be tempted to locate, other individuals tempted to work.
What of individuals who may have missed the October 17 Job Fair yesterday? They may have left the Liberty School building, but the solid legwork of identifying them remains intact. You know they’re interested, and it’s unlikely all 204-plus positions they had open yesterday have been filled. Feel free to check out their names below and act accordingly.
References
-
- Saline Area Chamber of Commerce (home page).
- Saline Area Schools (home page).
- Saline Main Street (home page).
- Saline (home page).
- Faurecia Interiors (home page).
- “Global Manufacturers Are Hiring Employees At All Skill Levels To Help Their Saline Operations Continue To Succeed” Dell Deaton (August 8, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “‘Smart’ Automobile Interiors That You’ll Experience On Future Roadways Are Being Developed Today in Saline, Michigan” Dell Deaton (August 30, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “NAVYA Premiered Its Self-Driving Shuttle at NAIAS Earlier This Year” Dell Deaton (February 5, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “Ready or Not, Autonomous Vehicles Rolled Further Ahead This Week Toward Inevitability with Mobility for All” Dell Deaton (May 31, 2018) Saline Journal.
- 2018 Saline Job Fair participating companies:
- Allegra (home page).
- American Soy Products (home page).
- Arbonne (home page).
- Bemis Farms Childcare & Preschool (home page).
- “Brecon Village” EHM Senior Solutions.
- Busch’s Fresh Food Market (home page).
- CorTech (home page).
- Dan’s Downtown Tavern (Facebook Page).
- Domino’s (home page).
- EHM Senior Solutions (home page).
- Fender Mender Collision Center (Facebook Page).
- Flexible Staffing (home page).
- Great Lakes Educational Group (home page).
- HIBLOW USA (home page).
- Homewatch Caregivers (home page).
- Huntington (home page).
- in2being (home page).
- IVSComm (home page).
- JAC Products (home page).
- Saline Lectronics (home page).
- KYOCERA UNIMERCO (home page).
- Lafontaine Jeep Chrysler Dodge (home page).
- Liebherr (home page).
- Linden Square Assisted Living Center (home page).
- Manpower (home page).
- McNaughton & Gunn (home page).
- MMI Engineered Solutions (home page).
- MRPR (home page).
- NAVYA (home page).
- R&B Plastics Machinery (home page).
- Salt Springs Brewery (home page).
- Smokehouse 52 BBQ (home page).
- U-Tech (home page).
- Windsor Mold Group (home page).
- Xela Pack (home page).
