 Prospective employee Luther Vanlandingham fills out application forms.
Staff Writer Based on the overwhelming response, count on the first annual Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce Job Fair to be the first of many to come. Job Fair Chairman Susan Allen, president of Texas Heritage Bank of Leon Springs, said job hopefuls were calling days in advance and were lined up several hours before the doors to the Boerne Community Center were scheduled to open Oct. 23. “The lady in charge of the center said there were actually people here the day before looking for the job fair and that there were people here at 10 o’clock in the morning,” said Allen, noting the fair did not begin until 3:30 p.m. “That means there’s a need in the community for something like this.”  Stanbio Laboratories was one of more than a dozen businesses looking for new workers. “People who don’t have jobs have more opportunities here than they would if they had to go find something on their own,” Morris said. “Instead of you going to find a job it comes to you.” “I’m just looking for something full-time where I can maybe make some good money and advance in a career,” Vanlandingham said. “I live in Boerne, so it’s pretty cool that I can come here instead of having to drive into San Antonio.” Employers appeared equally impressed with both the fair itself and the quality of the Boerne-area workforce.  Stanbio Laboratories was one of more than a dozen businesses looking for new workers. Cuevas said applications taken at the job fair will be considered for a number of positions coming open at the new Boerne branch, with hiring decisions expected at the first of the year. “We’ll be looking for tellers, which basically means all the workers in the branch,” Cuevas said. “They’ll have different titles but they’re all in teller work, and then we’ll also need three managers.” Kevin Farrell with Bandera Electric Cooperative also gave the inaugural job fair a thumbs-up. “It gets us exposure and let’s everybody know what we do and where we serve the community,” Farrell said. “We’re looking for linemen, everybody really, and we’re hoping to hire today.” The job fair replaces an employer shadowing program with the Boerne schools that was focused entirely on students, and was intended to alter and expand the chamber’s job outreach to include adults. Given the tremendous turnout, Allen says the chamber may reconsider the new program’s annual nature. “It does need to be considered,” Allen said. “Maybe we need to look at it more than once a year.” |
