Mayor Taveras Kicks Off Job Fair Series To Full House

PROVIDENCE, RI - The first in a series of 8 industry-specific job fairs was held with a full house of applicants meeting with 30 healthcare and non-profit companies. The standing-room only event offered those companies and the 279 unemployed and unemployed residents in attendance a chance to meet and hopefully, make a match.

The event was the first of the Mayors' Job Fairs, hosted by Mayor Angel Taveras of Providence and Mayor Allan W. Fung of Cranston, under the leadership of Workforce Solutions of Providence/ Cranston, beginning in mid-February. Many of the companies indicated there were "many strong applicants" at the event, from which they could do follow-up interviews and potential hires.

"This was an important opportunity for us to use our positions as Mayors to bring importance to the urgency of unemployment, and to bring together the resources to address it," said Mayor Taveras. "We are thankful to the businesses who attended and gave each of the applicants their time and consideration, and the opportunity for them to hire some great and talented Rhode Islanders."

"It was wonderful to be there and see such a strong turnout at our first health care Job Fair. Our counselors helped connect hundreds of underemployed and unemployed candidates with some outstanding employers in the fast paced healthcare field. I look forward to the next several joint efforts with the Providence to get our residents back to work," said Mayor Fung.

Applicants came from at least 24 of the state's 39 cities and towns (these were of the 140+ pre-registered applicants,) including Providence, Cranston, North Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Cumberland, Middletown, Warwick, West Warwick, Newport, Jamestown, Warren, Westerly, Lincoln, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, Barrington, No. Scituate, Smithfield, East Providence, Woonsocket, Portsmouth, Johnston and Narragansett.

This - and each of the upcoming job fairs - was held at Roger Williams Park Casino, and was industry- specific. Upcoming events will target construction, hospitality & tourism, education, information technology/finance/insurance, manufacturing, retail and banking & accounting. The next event will be held on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, from 12 noon until 3 pm, and will be construction-industry based, including related businesses such as plumbing and heating, industrial businesses, green companies, architects and roofing.

Representatives of companies and institutions accepted applications and addressed hiring questions. Participants included: Lifespan, Benchmark Quality Senior Living, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, EPOCH senior living, Fogarty Center, Home and Hospice of Rhode Island, Memorial Hospital, State of Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services, Thundermist, Visiting Nurses Home Care, Women and Infants and the Veterans Administration Hospital.

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Residents are urged to pre-register because space is limited. For the schedule of upcoming job fairs and/or to pre-register click here. To find existing job openings, please click here.

Job Fair Schedule:

• February 13 - Health Care
• April 17 - Construction
• May 15 - Hospitality & Tourism
• June 11 - Education
• August 14 - Information Technology
• September 4 - Manufacturing
• September 18 - Retail
• November 13 - Banking and accounting

All Events At The Roger Williams Park Casino: 12pm - 3pm

"This is exactly the kind of effort we have to take to tackle the difficult challenges unemployment presents," said James S. Bennett, Director of Economic Development for the City of Providence. "There are no simple answers but certainly working with other leaders to bring employers and potential employees together can help to address this very serious problem."