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News and Sentinel Job Fair draws hundreds of job seekers

Brianna Mayfield, left, of ECM goes over an application filled out by Mike McLaughlin of Parkersburg. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)

VIENNA — More than 400 job seekers turned out for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Job Fair in the main ballroom of the Grand Pointe Conference Center.

Mary Jo Miller, coordinator of the job fair, said 30 companies were on hand to accept resumes or provide applications. Some conducted job interviews at the site. Miller said the turnout was greater than the previous fair.

“We had about 150 people come in the first hour,” she said.

Friday’s job fair was the third one in the last two years sponsored by the News and Sentinel.

Ashley Justice, of Parkersburg, said she was looking to come back to the job market after being a stay at home mom for two years.

Alex Brightwell, of Parkersburg, works on an application during the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Job Fair. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)

“I’m looking to get back in the health care field,” she said. “I was a LPN, then I became a stay at home mom, so I’m looking to jump back into a career of some sort.”

Justice said she had a few leads since a number of companies were looking for people in the medical fields.

“Marietta Memorial was very interesting to me so I’m going to go home and apply for a job online immediately,” she said. “I worked for Westbrook before, but I’d love to go back.”

Trinity Polan, of Parkersburg, said her background is in the criminal justice field, but she was open to different types of jobs.

“I had an interview with ECM and I just finished applications for Westbrook and CAS Cable,” she said.

Ashley Justice fills out an application during the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Job Fair in Vienna. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)

Polan had been working with a temporary agency but its contract was not renewed.

Russell Johnson, of Marietta, said he was looking at some jobs in the maintenance field, which was his job in the U.S. Navy.

“I saw the ad in the paper and came down to see what was offered,” he said. “There were a couple with maintenance positions and I was in the Navy for a while doing maintenance, so these positions are looking promising to me.”

Alex Brightwell, of Parkersburg, said he was applying for a number of jobs at the fair.

“I’m looking for a job,” he said. “I looked at a number of jobs and I’ve applied at DHL and Simonton.”

Marilyn Lipps of Par Mar Stores said the company was looking to fill openings at new stores and other openings that may come up. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)

For some the fair presented a limited number of opportunities.

Joyce Smolenski, of Parkersburg, said she was looking for a job in software development. However, there was no company looking for anyone in that field.

“I came but I did not expect to find anything in that field,” she said. “There is not a lot of software development done around here.

Brianna Mayfield, with ECM Energy, an energy services company in the oil and gas industry, said the company was looking for people in water transport and traffic control.

“We’ve had a good turnout so far,” she said. “We’ve had 20 or more applications come through. We’ve started to hire five or six already and it’s only an hour in.”

Mayfield said ECM was at the first Parkersburg News and Sentinel Job Fair and it was a busy fair for them.

“The turnout has been very good and the people have been very nice,” she said. “This is an incredibly good fair.”

Kelly Schultz, human resources manager with Pactiv in Mineral Wells, was looking to fill all or half of 10 positions at the plant in Mineral Wells from people who came to the job fair.

“We are the world’s largest manufacturer of food packaging,” he said. “Today we are looking for extrusion operators, thermoforming operators, maintenance specialists or electro-mechanical technicians.”

Schultz said a number of people came by their table. He said they came across two people in the first hour who may be called in for a later interview. Schultz said several either took applications or submitted resumes.

Rebecca Thomas, of Molemaster Services, said she had a few people she liked for a position that is hard to find the right person for the job.

“My position I hire for most is the field technician,” she said. “It’s a labor position with a lot of hard work; we’re the ones who clean out silos at plants across the United States. We clean silos in chemical plants, cement plants, grain storage — anything that needs cleaned out.”

Thomas said the position is hard to fill because it requires a lot of travel and sometimes they may be away from home for up to six or more weeks and work anywhere from Florida to North Dakota to California.

“They also have to have a clean driving record and a high school diploma,” she said.

Thomas said she had two individuals with industrial cleaning backgrounds, which is something needed.

Marilyn Lipps, human resources with Par Mar Stores, said she was impressed with the number of people who came out for the fair.

“We’ve had a lot of people come by and talk with us which is wonderful,” she said. “There were a lot of people with varied experience and looking to do different things.”

Lipps said since the company is expanding they were looking for candidates to fill many different jobs in the company.

“We are looking to staff our stores naturally,” she said. “But we are expanding and we are a growing company so I’m taking resumes for office workers, maintenance, information technology and accounting. Even though I may not be hiring for that job right now one may open up in the future.”

Eight winners were selected for $50 Par Mar Stores gift cards. They were: Brenda Barnette, Shirley Tennant, Michael Good, Mona Beall, Kathy Schofield, Rebecca Crooks, Lori Couch and Samantha Auth.

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