Hundreds of local and area job seekers flocked to the seventh annual Northeast Texas Workforce Solutions' Red, White and You Veterans Job Fair on Thursday at the Texarkana Convention Center.
At least 17 veterans service organizations, along with nearly 60 local and area commercial businesses, government agencies and banks, distributed applications to both military veterans and non-veterans looking for jobs during the four-hour fair. This fair is one of about 29 job fairs the state has held and continues to hold across Texas since this occupations program started in 2012, said Bart Spivey, project manager for Workforce Solutions.
As in years past the job fairs are usually held the Thursday before Veterans Day, he said.
Last year's fair attracted about 400 job seekers which included about 10 military veterans, said April Corbit, public information officer for Workforce Solutions,
"We're hoping to draw even more job seekers this year," Corbit said.
Corbit added that this year's commercial business participants included a good cross-section of the Texarkana area's manufacturers, retailers, banks, health care providers and other service providers.
One of Texarkana's local manufacturers, Ledwell, participated for the first time in the job fair this year, said Sarah Carpenter, executive assistant for the company.
Presently, Ledwell, which builds custom truck bodies for trailers, dump trucks and water trucks, has been in business since 1946 and employs 460 people, Carpenter said.
Besides employing welders, maintenance workers and other manual labor personnel, the company also employs accountants, engineers, sales representatives and inspectors, she said.
Corbit said Workforce Solutions has used the convention center to hold these fairs basically since the fairs started seven years ago. She added that the center will likely continue to be the place of choice for years to come.