MOUNT VERNON — Opportunity Knox is a Level 2 state certified one-stop employment center serving the Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow Job Network. Located at 17604 Coshocton Ave., its main purpose is to assist job seekers and employers identify and locate programs and services, as well as assist with job-related services and resources.
Opportunity Knox offers job fairs throughout the year to bring employers and job seekers together in an effort to get the best match for the job. Nineteen employers were in attendance at Tuesday’s event.
“In past years we have had 25 but that has been very crowded,” said Diana Williams, Opportunity Knox administrator. “Because of the economy being what it is, we thought we would cut it down so the employers would have more time and space to work with the people one on one.”
Although there were no guarantees that job seekers would find work, all employers at the fair were actively looking to fill positions.
“We don’t have [the employers] sign a contract with us,” Williams explained. “But they sign an agreement with us that they are, in fact, hiring right now, or will be within 60 days.”
Employers at Tuesday’s job fair represented a cross section of jobs. In attendance were Sanoh America, First-Knox National Bank, Knox Community Hospital, Heartland of Centerburg, Mount Vernon Developmental Center, Heating and Cooling Products, Jeld-Wen Windows, Summerville at HillenVale, Adecco Personnel, Aloche, Atrium Personnel, Licking/Knox Goodwill, Kroger Distribution, Ohio Eastern Star Home, Shannon Staffing and Burch-Hydro.
In addition to general job fairs, Opportunity Knox holds several specific job fairs throughout the year.
“We can do things like health fairs, IT job fairs; things that are specific to an area,” Williams said. “We’ve done that in the past. We’ve also done [events] where the employers call and want to know if they can do their interviewing here. They will run an ad and come out here to do the interviews.”
“These fairs are very helpful,” said Melissa Gates, representing the Kroger Distribution Center. “I’ve been to about four of these in the last month. With the economy the way it is, we’ve been seeing more people out looking for jobs. And we’re looking to hire people so we hope we can help fill that void here.”
“This is the main one we do every year,” said Nikki Mack, representing First-Knox. “This is definitely worthwhile for us. This is a great turnout.”
Job seekers were hopeful.
“I work construction and I’m laid off right now,” said Robert Nihart, “and I’m here trying to look for some full-time, year-round work. There’s a couple of things that interest me here. There’s Krogers. I’ve applied online and I gave them my name so they could check that [the status] out. I’ve applied at Goodwill, too. I’m just looking for something full-time. This [job fair] is a good idea. They should probably do this a couple times a year.”
“I’m just looking for full-time employment in an office setting,” said Janelle Ondley. “I live in Fredericktown, and Mount Vernon isn’t that far, so it’s a great opportunity. There’s a lot of full-time stuff in there. Part time is hard to find, which is kind of surprising.”
Opportunity Knox offers a variety of services to both job seekers and employers. All the services are free.
Opportunity Knox is not the unemployment office. Applying for unemployment benefits is done either by phone or online. Opportunity Knox can give out contact information, but cannot otherwise help with applying for unemployment benefits.
For more information about services offered by Opportunity Knox call 392-9675.
