
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990                   TAG: 9007040299
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium

DELEGATE BAKER SEEKS FUNDING FOR CAREER FAIR

For the past few months, Del. Tommy Baker, R-Radford, has been swamped with calls from people concerned about declining employment in Southwest Virginia. Tuesday afternoon, he offered a plan that would bring people looking for employment together with people doing the hiring.

The plan is to hold a career fair for all of Southwest Virginia in Pulaski County this October.

Employers from all over the state - and some from outside the state - would set up booths and meet with workers from the area.

"We have a particularly acute need for increased employment in the New River Valley due to the AT&T layoffs," Baker said from his Dublin law office. "We need to be able to find jobs for these people."

AT&T announced in January that it would be moving its operation to Dallas. The move would put about 1,000 people out of work.

Bruce Palmer, president of Resource Service Associates of Roanoke, the company responsible for planning and running the fair, said he expects as many as 6,000 job-seekers to attend the event, tentatively scheduled for the New River Valley fairgrounds Oct. 11-13.

"If you include the people who have lost jobs just locally and add in places like Wythe County and Roanoke, it's not hard to build that kind of number," he said.

Baker is seeking financial support from local governments and other agencies. He said it is possible that the state will kick in some funding as well.

The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors voted at its last meeting to help sponsor the fair with $5,000, provided that other localities kicked in matching funds. But not without some discussion.

Supervisor Bruce Fariss said that with a number of New River Valley residents out of work, it would seem that employers already had a pool from which to draw new workers.

"I'd like to be a little more optimistic about this," Baker said Tuesday. "I think through this fair we will be able to find jobs for people."

Palmer said the event probably will cost about $100,000. Some of the financing will be provided by the employers who set up booths, he said. A fee has not yet been set. It is hoped that 90 to 100 employers will attend the event, he added.

by CNB