Drive Thru Job Fair Held October 11

Industry Leaders, Education, and Community Organizations coming together to develop programming that engages jobseekers, attracts talent from outside the community and thinks outside the box on workforce development gaps.  That is what takes place at the monthly meetings of the Fremont Manufacturers and Transportation Strategic Doing group.

One of the programs started by this group’s efforts was a Fremont first. It was called a “Drive Thru Job Fair,” and was led by Tara Lea and her staff at the Fremont Area Chamber who took on the organizing effort.  This included outreach to industry for participation, volunteer sign ups, marketing, and of course, stuffing 300 packets with flyers from 22 business partners.

The event took place on October 11 from 3:00 to 6:00pm at two locations; the Keene Memorial Library and the parking lot of the First Lutheran Church.  

Industry partners in the group were asked to sign up for times to help hand out packets.  Signs went up the day before to alert drivers about this unique event on their route home or to the store.  Social media and a visit to KHUB by Tara Lea helped spread the news.  Gift cards were randomly placed in the packets to reward some lucky folks who took the time to drive by.

Positive comments were heard from many who drove through. 

“Thank you so much for doing this!”

 “What a great idea! I’m being laid off next week and I’m so glad I saw this!” 

“Thanks for making this so easy!”

152 packets were handed out during the event.  The remainder were divided up and placed at LifeHouse (fka Care Corp and Low Income Ministry), Midland University, Metropolitan Community College and the Fremont Chamber. 

“We had a great team of volunteers and staff that made the event a success.  We will plan another one in the spring as we were very pleased with the turnout and the feedback from both jobseekers and businesses.  The following morning I had already received two calls from participating businesses saying the flyers brought jobseekers through their door!”

~Tara Lea, executive director, Fremont Area Chamber

“Without the presence of a workforce development center, Fremont businesses find it challenging to reach jobseekers with information on job openings and how to go about applying.  That was some of the key information on the flyers.  This idea, born out of the discussions held monthly by industry peers, is just one example of our community coming together to address the challenges of filling openings.  We hope to grow this into a quarterly event and especially target those who are currently commuting outside the community that may want to find a job right here where they live.” ~ Barb Pierce, Existing Business Director, GFDC