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Lowes takes job fair to One-Stop
ronald hayes 3
Ronald Hayes, store manager of the Lowes in Rincon, interviews an applicant at the Effingham One-Stop Career Center during the centers first job fair Friday. - photo by Photo by Calli Arnold

The Coastal Workforce Investment Board and its Effingham One-Stop Career Center were proud to see a steady turnout as the center hosted its first job fair Friday.

Lowe’s in Rincon came out to Springfield to review and interview applicants for a number of temporary, seasonal and permanent part-time positions, and a few full-time opportunities.

“We’re part of the community,” said Ronald Hayes, store manager for Lowe’s in Rincon. “What better way to show that you’re part of the community but to have a job fair in your community that supports you? It means a lot to the company. It says a lot for us, that we’re not trying to do anything else but try to find the right people in the community.”

Hayes said that after they realized that Springfield had never hosted a job fair before, he was happy for the One-Stop Career Center to host them. He said that he wanted to support employment in this community and give the best applicants the opportunity to work at Lowe’s and that if they found the right fit, some could parlay part-time and temp/seasonal work into a career.

“We look for anybody that’s ready to service customers,” Hayes said. “Customer service: that’s our number one goal. We look for someone that is flexible. We can work around different schedules because everybody can’t work that Monday through Friday or Saturday and Sunday. So we’re very flexible about that.

“We’re looking for people from different walks of life, who speak different languages. In order to have a successful establishment, we have to have all kinds of people. It’s not a certain one that you want. It’s across the board.”

Hayes said that there were more than 20 people waiting for the job fair to begin by the time he and his staff got to the center that morning and that there was a steady stream of folks throughout the day.

The Department of Labor was on hand to help attendees apply online and to offer other job placement information or unemployment benefit information.

The Effingham One-Stop Career Center offers the following services:  an overview of educational and training services, access to support services, personal employment services, local and national job listings, resource area, labor market information, and unemployment insurance services. It is open on Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

For more information visit www.coastalworkforceservcies.org or call 754-8179. The Effingham One-Stop Center is located in the County Annex, 768 Highway 119 South, Springfield.