Sep. 26—HUNTSVILLE — More than 50 employers, many from Decatur, and hundreds of job seekers of all ages and locales filled the halls of Calhoun Community College’s Huntsville campus for its Fall Job Fair on Thursday.
The Decatur-based employers present included GE Appliances, J.M. Smucker, Polyplex USA, Beyond Gravity, Decatur Utilities, Alabama Farmers Cooperative and more.
“Our goal is to have representation from various industries in our area so that pretty much any one of our students or community members can come in and connect with a potential employer in their field,” said Kelli Morris, Calhoun’s director of career services and cooperative learning.
Job seekers came from all over the Tennessee Valley, signifying an interconnected workforce with many people living in one city and commuting to another for work.
“We’ve got people from Florence, Athens, Cullman, Guntersville. We have a lot of people drive an hour to come to work, but we do have a lot of local people, as well,” said Dink Strunk, a production manager for Beyond Gravity of Decatur.
Strunk emphasized that the company offers employees a stable future because it maintains long-term contracts with United Launch Alliance.
He also appreciates the company’s potential for upward mobility. After owning Power Tool Supply & Repair in Decatur for 38 years, Strunk started as a level 1 technician with Beyond Gravity a few years ago. He has worked his way up and has been in his current role for three years.
“That’s the kind of opportunities that this company can offer people, and that’s what I want to share with people,” Strunk said.
Beyond Gravity partners with Calhoun, with many aerospace and engineering students starting at the company upon graduation. GE Appliances also partners with Calhoun on its Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education program, as well as its Excellence in Process Industrial Controls program.
“I always like to attend because I know that it is a great school,” said GE Appliance’s human resource recruiter Paris Miland. “I always like to support it.”
On Thursday, GE advertised openings on the production, maintenance and electrical teams. Positions included control technicians, forklift operators, electrical maintenance and PLC maintenance.
“We have a lot of opportunity within the plant, so it’s kind of just getting your foot in the door and seeing what opportunities that we have that would better fit their lifestyle,” Miland said.
Community Action Partnership of North Alabama had openings in its children’s services department. CAPNA usually participates in both the fall and spring job fairs that Calhoun hosts. The table received decent traffic on Thursday.
“There’s been a lot of interest and a lot of really good questions,” said CAPNA Partnership Liaison Karen Jared. “It’s a good opportunity to share information about all of our programs and specific job needs.”
Polyplex USA also had several openings, which it is seeking to fill after expanding earlier this year. Positions included operators, maintenance staff and warehouse staff. Polyplex also typically participates in all of Calhoun’s job fairs.
The job fair was free for Calhoun students and the public. Calhoun will hold its Spring Job Fair on the Decatur campus.
— GraciAnn.Goodin@DecaturDaily.com or 256-340-2437