The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce hosted a job fair at the Institute today (with a lot of help from numerous partners). SouthsideCentral was there covering it (and hey, looking for a new job too!) and I’ve got a Big Board of Random Thoughts about it.
Let’s bring on that Big Board of Random Thoughts…
- You’ve heard it here a quadrillion times, and I’ll say it again. The Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce is a top-notch organization and is superbly led by the amazing Laurie Moran. That’s not taking anything away from the other staff members of the chamber at all. Lynette Lawson & Kate Farmer do their jobs perfectly and go way past the call of duty just like Laurie Moran. If you own a business or work for one, make sure that they’re members of the Chamber. It’s well worth the investment.
- Danville’s office of the Virginia Workforce Center is simply amazing. They helped run today’s job fair and you couldn’t ask for more from the workers there. They truly are dedicated to their job of finding people work and they do an awesome job. I’ve used their services and have only met a few of the people in the office, so I’ll throw out my highest compliments to Susan Calvitti & Terrence Glass as two of the most amazing people who take their time to explain the various ways they can help and then they totally follow through with everything they say. If I knew the name of the woman that helped me at their office yesterday, I’ll be glad to add her name to this “Amazing Workforce Center People” list.
- There are jobs available. There are a lot of jobs available. It usually takes a while for a new job search to pay off, but good people are going to get jobs. It’s easier to find a new job when you’ve already got one, but never lose hope. Good people get jobs.
- There are lots of people who are looking for jobs. My goodness, there had to be at least 800 people attending the job fair.
- There are lots of people who have no idea how to look for jobs. My goodness, over 70% of the job seekers that I saw were dressed totally inappropriately for making first contact with a prospective employer. I spoke off the record to a few sources who sadly told me that this is a huge problem with the local workforce. That’s a damned shame.
- I was amazed at the realm of types of jobs available from the employers. You had opportunities from general labor/light industrial to managerial positions available.
- I’ve made fun of the Institute before, but I’m always amazed at how beautiful the place is. Now that Jerry Gwaltney is at the helm and has implemented business plans to make the place live up to its potential, the Institute is becoming a key player in helping to build Southside’s economy.
- I’ve always been a supporter of Congressman Robert Hurt, but today’s conversation with him really showed me that he is in touch with Southside and their problems. I expect some heat from the Usual Partisan Hack Subjects for this, but I’m saying it anyway. Yeah, Congress is a bunch of dysfunctional idiots but Robert Hurt is just 1/435 and can’t get much done by himself. Putting the pressure on the Army Corps of engineers to end their idiotic policy ban on industrial park construction permits was a giant step forward for the region’s economy. Hurt worked with the Democratic side of the aisle to take care of this quite real problem.
- Education is a big problem with this region’s workforce readiness. It was good that one big part of the job fair was devoted to the educational opportunities that are available at low (or no) costs to people. Now, the dilemma is how to get people to continually improve their education.
- There are a lot of businesses that a lot of people (including me) simply don’t know about. While visiting the booths today, I learned a lot about the local economy.
- As I said to Congressman Hurt, I’m in awe that the local chamber doesn’t stop at the Pittsylvania County border when it comes to events like this. As Laurie Moran said today, people are willing to commute distances to work if the pay and benefits are good.
There you go. I can’t wait to see the official numbers of how many people attended today’s Job Fair. I’m simply amazed at what this region can do when everyone works together to make an event like this happen.
“… the Usual Partisan Hack Subjects.” Ha! What, no “hysterical” Bruce?
Thank you for your kind words, Bruce. They mean more than you realize.
Lynnette
Good read. Thanks for spreading the word (news.)
LOL! “…the Usual Partisan Hack Subjects..” OMG. Bruce, Robert Hurt hasn’t a clue about what his constituents need. If he did, he would not be voting complete party line. He has MANY constituents that believe that we should be advised of dangerous chemicals and such that business or industry may have in proximity to us and to our water. Councilman Fred Shanks posted on SSC that he sees the light on that issue now. Hurt continues votes to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (yes, that really is its name) despite the fact that millions of people are benefiting from it. That has been one of his major concerns in Congress, throwing out a law! Hurt has a voting record of voting against the best interest of his constituents and people better wake up and realize this. Oh, and you better hope you get a job before your unemployment runs out because your friend Robert Hurt won’t vote to extend it! And you can take that to the bank (oops! you won’t be going to the bank because you won’t have any more money). That is a reality many in his district face. And Bruce, it is a shame that YOU messed up a good article promoting the job fair by bringing “politics” into your piece.
I’m talking about the local economy and issues like the permitting snafu. The other stuff you mentioned is partisan crap that both sides are guilty of.
Sorry you don’t like Hurt. If you looked at the ACA from different perspectives other than your own, I surmise you would understand how it truly is a barrier to small businesses and the self-employed, among other things.
Also, I’m sorry he doesn’t support your view on extending unemployment benefits, but I surmise that most working Americans don’t support it either. People shouldn’t expect to live off benefits indefinitely, or “until the economy improves” as most in your subset say. The economy is what you make of it. The money is still out there, ebbing and flowing. You just need to exploit your skills in order to garner a portion of cashflow you deem proper reimbursement for your efforts.
Unemployment benefits, on the other hand, are paid into the state job insurance fund by all employers, subsidizing those without a job. It’s not an endless supply of money that gets revoked or disbursed whenever politicians feel like it. It is there to help you find a new job. If you’re unable to find one in the amount of time they give you, perhaps you should refine your strategy, or take a good look in the mirror.
The govt can’t do everything for you. When everyone realizes they’re much better off doing for themselves, rather than rooting for the polictician with the most handouts, this county will be a much better place.
… aaaaaand cue the Usual Partisan Hack Subject.
The Army Corps of Engineers set forth good policy. It makes no sense to do what we want to do to this land when it is very likely to sit fallow and be prone to erosion and runoff as a result. The problem is that we are so desperate for jobs we’ll open up any coffer we can to hand out corporate welfare not even to a corporation directly but to a small group of industries in need of a few sites like this one, in hopes that they will smile upon us with the gift of jobs in exchange. It’s nonsensical, but so is a lot in life.
The problem with Danville is the lack of an educated populace. In times past I’d have said the answer was to build a public college, but we are perched on the brink of a revolution in that realm. More and more education will be done online, so even building a public college is a bit of largesse we don’t really have the ability to afford. Danville’s best chance I firmly believe is likely going to be a hope that Virginia legalizes marijuana well before North Carolina does. That could lead to a boom in a border town that could actually create positive change. That’s not the only thing that could happen, but I think it illustrates just what type of change is necessary to rebuild the community. We should look to Lynchburg or to Roanoke. We should look to lots of other cities that have faced terrible circumstances but built something based on specialization and painstaking effort. It’s not easy.