El Paso Job Fair to Feature 6,000 Positions, 200 Employers
Sept. 24, 2012
Vic Kolenc
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El Paso's largest annual job fair will be Tuesday.
More than 200 employers with about 6,000 job openings are slated to be at the El Paso convention center Downtown for Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande's 10th annual Job Expo, the area's public employment agency reported.
It will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Just over 4,000 job hunters attended last year's event.
The agency is expecting about 8,000 job seekers this year.
"This is our biggest event of the year, and one of which we are very proud," Lorenzo Reyes Jr., Workforce Solutions chief executive officer, said in a written statement.
"We are committed to help lower El Paso's high unemployment rate."
The local unemployment rate
was 9.3 percent in August -- well above the statewide rate of 7.1 percent, and the national rate of 8.1 percent.
El Paso's unemployment rate is the fourth-highest among Texas metro areas, the Texas Workforce Commission reported.
An estimated 31,300 El Pasoans were unemployed and actively seeking work in August, the state agency reported.
Employers at the Job Expo will include Hewlett-Packard, which has 23 jobs open at its El Paso software applications and development center, and CVS pharmacy, which has 46 full- and part-time jobs available, according to Workforce Solutions. CVS is renovating a Downtown building to house one of its first El Paso stores.
A host of temporary staffing agencies and call centers also are expected to have booths at the Job Expo.
A list of employers at the event is available on Workforce Solutions' website, urgjobs.org.
An educational expo is a new feature to this year's event.
Almost 50 universities, colleges and career schools will be on hand to provide information about educational opportunities, Workforce Solutions reported.
Eleventh- and 12th-graders from area schools will be bused to the convention center to explore future higher-education possibilities, the agency reported.
Several career-enhancement workshops will also be held during the event.
One workshop will feature retired Army Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Army's Combat Support Field. She's a motivational speaker and founder of Educational Achievement Services, a Las Vegas human development company.
Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com, 546-6421. Follow him on Twitter @vickolenc.
Make plans
-What: Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande's 10th annual Job Expo.
-Where: Judson F. Williams Convention Center, 1 Civic Center, on Santa Fe Street, near Durango Street.
-When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
-Information: urgjobs.org, 887-2000.
Source: (c)2012 the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas). Distributed by MCT Information Services
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