Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990 TAG: 9006130409
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
City officials provided information on municipal-job openings and reviewed recent economic development projects that have created or will create hundreds of new jobs in the private sector in the Roanoke Valley.
The job fair at High Street Baptist Church - where Taylor is minister - was part of the city's program to bolster outreach services in the black community to help recruit more blacks and women into the municipal work force.
Personnel Manager Kenneth Cronin said the meeting had been planned for several months and was part of the city's effort to help strengthen its affirmative-action program for blacks and women.
Representatives for several municipal departments and city schools were available to talk with young people and potential job applicants about job openings, job requirements and the application process. These included officials with the Police, Fire, Social Services, Sheriff's and Parks and Recreation departments.
Cronin said officials tried to focus attention on municipal departments with turnover in the work force and frequent openings.
The city finds it difficult to attract more minority applicants for some departments, he said.
Cronin said the city faces problem in recruiting more minorities for the Police Department, for example, because of the limited availability of applicants in the Roanoke metropolitan area's labor force and competition from other localities.
He said some big cities recruit nationwide for applicants for their police departments and drain off potential applicants in Roanoke and other smaller cities. For instance, the police department in Dallas was recently trying to recruit applicants in Roanoke, he said.
Based on a recent report to City Council, 24 percent of the city's employees are black and 28 percent are women. The percentages are much smaller in some departments, but council was told that the city has a percentage of black workers that is equal to or higher than their availability in the metropolitan area's labor pool.
Earl Reynolds, assistant city manager, told the potential job applicants that hundreds of new jobs have been created in the private sector as a result of new businesses and industries and expansions by existing businesses.
Up to $250 million in new private and public development has either been started or is planned in the next year, Reynolds said. He reviewed the new businesses in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology and the projects that have been started or planned in downtown.
"There is a lot of diversity, and a lot of different jobs will be available," Reynolds said, adding that the Roanoke Valley's economic strength lies in its diversity.
by CNB