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Looking for work in Alcorn County

September 12, 2006 - Daily Journal

More than 300 job-seekers signed in during the first hour of Tuesday's job fair at the Crossroads Arena. Some waited in line at Caterpillar's booth, including Marilyn Wilkins. "I put in an application here last year but haven't heard anything from them yet," Wilkins said. Even so, through last year's fair, she landed a job at Plumrose in Booneville. For the Burnsville resident, however, driving to Corinth would be a better commute than her current 48-mile round trip. "Better pay is what I'm looking for, too," she said.

Organizers, who invited the Governor's Job Fair Network to make Corinth one of its sites for the second year, are concerned about jobs for area residents, said Charles Gulotta, president of The Alliance economic development organization. "Things appear to be going well for Corinth and Alcorn County right now with about $150 million of projects ongoing or recently completed," Gulotta said. "We were distressed at the closing of Tecumseh last year and wanted to provide job opportunities for those workers and also create new employment opportunities for the community."

In addition to the 56 employers who signed on to be represented at the job fair, the projects to which Gulotta referred include Magnolia Regional Health Center expansion, Kingsford Manufacturing's new presence in Corinth, Kimberly-Clark expansion, new shopping center projects and the recent completion of the Northeast Mississippi Community College Corinth facility.

Last year's job fair resulted in about 200 job offers on the day of the fair, said Joe Buckner, organizer of the job fair network. As professional wrestler Dennis Savarese - whose wrestling name is Dalton Storm - stood in line to apply for a job at the Sweet Peppers Deli soon to open in Corinth, he said he was hoping to be among those to get an offer. "I've worked in restaurants all my life except for being in the ring," he said. "Everybody's excited for Peppers to open, and I think it'd be cool to work there."

The job fair drew 800 plus applications and 1,080 resumes, with 472 interviews conducted on site. Some 600 job offers were made, and estimated 387 hires will be made from the fair within the next year.

By Lena Mitchell 

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