Get a job!

Residents and students got to meet face to face with Valley businesses and organizations who were looking to fill new jobs at a Job Fair held Tuesday at the Platte Valley Community Center.

According to Leigh Nation of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Development, 14 employers participatied in the job fair. Twelve employers had booths at the event, and two others provided printed information to visitors.

The Job Corps was at the fair actively recruiting younger adults for job training and placement. According to Crystal Rodriguez, and admissions counselor at Job Corps’ Rawlins office, Job Corps provides job training and placement to young adults ages 16-24 who meet certain criteria, including satisfying low-income criteria.

The program provides job training programs and job placement for qualified young adults, and no repayment is necessary for the job training or other services offered. Those accepted to the program will receive job training at the organization’s center in Riverton, as well as room and board. The organization also has information sessions at the Rawlins Workforce Center from 1:30-3 p.m. every Tuesday.

Other employers at the fair ran the gamut from local, family-owned and operated companies like GTH Haymakers from Encampment who was looking for about 10 seasonal employees for summer, to Bank of the West whose parent company, BNP Paribas, is a multinational based in Paris, France.

Saratoga Forest Management also had representatives at the fair recruiting for laborers. The company may be starting a second shift this summer, according to Kim Meis of the company. Meis was not sure if and when the second shift would be added, but said if it were the company would be looking to fill a significant number of positions at the sawmill.

Saratoga Care Center had a booth at the event as well, and was trying to fill several positions at the facility. According to Jennifer Jenkins, business office manager at Saratoga Care Center, the facility is looking for certified nurse’s aides (CNA), registered nurses, as well as an assistant director of nursing and a physical therapist.

The care center offers CNA training, according to Jenkins. Employees will take the 100-hour CNA class and sit for the state exam. During their training, employees are paid $7.50 per hour and the training and testing will be paid for by the center provided the trainee maintains employment with Saratoga Care Center.

After the employee passes the state test, their salary with the center will be negotiated, Jenkins said.

Two U.S. Government agencies were also at the event, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM sent representatives to the fair to recruit for 10 open positions, even though most federal government agencies have been under a hiring freeze since the beginning of the Trump Administration.

The freeze is expected to lift April 21, according to David Hilliard of the BLM, so he and another employee of the BLM were busy taking resumes in hopes they will soon be able to hire. The agency’s positions range from those that don’t require college degrees to ones that do, such as an archaeologist.

Other employers at the fair were Dan’s Trucking of Saratoga who is looking for experienced truck drivers, Farm Bureau Insurance Financial Services, the Mangy Moose bar in Encampment, Carbon County Visitor’s Council, Saratoga Forest Management and S&S Builders of Gillette.