The city’s job/community fair on Feb. 16 will feature employers from both inside and outside Emporia, the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce said in a release Monday.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman announced the scheduling of the community fair on Friday after the city’s community response team meeting to discuss the Tyson Foods plant layoffs. The fair will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Flint Hills Technical College.
Vendor booths are available for the event, and vendors can obtain registration forms at the Chamber office, 719 Commercial Street. Vendors are asked to request electricity only if truly needed.
“We have the availability for between 60 and 70 (employers),” Chamber President Jeanine McKenna said. “And my guess is yes, we will fill that up.”
Emporia employers will be situated in the conference center, and outside employers will be in the hallways. Out-of-town employers, McKenna said, won’t necessarily be companies within a certain distance from Emporia; any employer can participate. Social service agencies invited to the event will be located in the commons area.
The job fair was one of a number of action steps outlined in notes from last week’s meeting that were released by Zimmerman late Monday morning. The notes also mentioned the previously announced informational meetings scheduled for Feb. 18-20 in the Anderson building at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. The Kansas Works Rapid Response Team will provide presenters for those meetings to explain programs and benefits available to those affected by the Tyson layoffs.
Other actions and upcoming events outlined in Zimmerman’s notes as part of the response team’s steps include the following:
• Emporia State and Friends in Faith will offer free tax preparation this Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Learning Center in Flinthills Mall.
• Emporia Main Street will begin holding entrepreneurial classes beginning in March. Main Street and the city will attempt to secure state funding to waive tuition for affected workers.
• The Salvation Army will handle most of the community’s immediate needs and will work with the United Way and Friends in Faith to hold food drives and fundraising events.
• The United Way will examine the possibility of establishing one intake center that would provide all types of services for those affected by the layoffs.
• Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia State university will investigate available money for worker retraining and education.
The notes also provide facts that could be pertinent to the city’s efforts and more speculative ideas about how certain agencies can help. Friends in Faith, the notes say, “can help provide written and oral translation and distribute information throughout the region.” Also noted is that Flint Hills Community Health Center and the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas offer services on a sliding scale.