Event Draws Hundreds Who Are Eager To Work

It’s unclear whether the perspiration on the hundreds of job-seekers gathered at a downtown job fair Tuesday was caused by nervousness or by the hot, trapped air in the small room at the West Central Community Center, or both.

A line formed before the job fair opened at 10 a.m., and by the time it ended at 2 p.m. more than 500 people showed up to talk to recruiters from nine downtown companies and fill out applications.

Some came dressed in business suits and skirt and blouse ensembles. Others wore shorts, baseball caps and flip flops. All were hopeful.

James Kelly was applying for a job handling inbound calls for Pitney Bowes: “I saw an ad in the community paper,” he said. “I’m here because of my lack of and need of work.”

Jennifer Northcutt was more inter- ested in finding a job at one of the retail companies at the fair, including River Park Square stores Walking Co., Chico’s and Bag n’ Baggage.

“I’ve been looking for a job, and I live close to here,” she said. “I enjoy working downtown, so this is perfect.”

Those seeking employees also were enthusiastic about the job fair. Some companies at the job fair were accepting applications for a large number of positions.

Dakotah Direct is hiring 200 telemarketers. Travelers Property Casualty Co. will be hiring more than 100 people by year end.

The Sawtooth Grill needs to fill more than 90 server, cook, busser and hostess positions before it opens on Aug. 7 at River Park Square, said co-owner Duane Kapovich.

He was impressed with the turnout. “We’re 30 minutes into it and we’ve probably talked to 100 people already,” he said. “Plus, this is a good way to get our name out there.”

Also on hand were representatives from the Community Colleges of Spokane’s Work Keys program, which conducts job skills assessment tests and offers career counseling at Spokane’s community centers.