March 15 - Michigan Works! held a job fair at the Gaylord Eagles Hall with 24 employers on-site hiring for a variety of positions. Sixteen job seekers attended the event. Despite low turnout, employers were happy with the applicants in attendance.
March 16 - Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium and Region 7b collaborated to hold a job fair at the Craf Center in Roscommon. The job fair was targeted for Lear Corp employees, as the company is closing down a production line and will be laying off 50 workers at the end of March. Thirty-one Lear employees attended the fair, seeking new positions with the ten employers in attendance. Also in attendance was a representative from Veteran Services and the HR Manager from Lear who assisted with checking in Lear employees attending. In addition, two staff from the Unemployment Insurance Agency were onsite to assist with Rapid Response and answer questions.
The Job Fair experienced power outages during the event but everyone made the best of it.
This Job Fair was unique in that it gave Lear production employees who were notified of their layoffs options to work at other manufacturing plants, or pursue other careers outside of manufacturing like healthcare and transportation. Business Solutions Professionals Alayne Hansen (NE Consortium) and Brenda Bachelder (Region 7B) worked closely with Lear Human Resources staff to put on the Job Fair. The feedback from participating employers was excellent!