Johnson City, NY (WBNG Binghamton) What started as an effort to keep college students in the Southern Tier has grown in to a large-scale job fair for anyone.
Action News reporter Matt Markham was one of hundreds at Project Homecoming in Johnson City.
Sure, this is the season for holiday shopping. But, the most sought-after item at the Oakdale Mall is a good job.
"I've been looking for the last six months," said John Tobias of Binghamton. "Right now I'm collecting unemployment, and that's about to run out."
About forty local companies are in the running to hire the most qualified candidates.
It's a shift for a region that has lost too many jobs, and too many people.
"It's just a shame that you have those companies leaving, and most of the people having to go somewhere else," said Richard Strube of Vestal.
But with a skill-set, you can make your match.
"I walked up and I said, oh, they've got control systems here," Strube said. "That's right down my line."
Robert Lee of Northpoint USA is hiring engineers for industrial automation program systems. It's a business he started in 2002 out of his basement.
"We're always growing," said Robert Lee of Northpoint. "We've been growing since we started and we're really trying to pick up people that have that specialty skill first."
Raymond Corporation in Greene has been set up at this job fair for several years. It has offered and received success of its own.
"We have had many hires from this event," said John Sassani from Raymond. "It's nice because you do get people who are coming back to the area for family and people who want to relocate to the area."
In a phrase, that's what Project Homecoming is all about.
The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce organized the event.
It also collects resumes from people who might not even be looking for a job at the moment.
The chamber keeps their information for employers who may look for qualified people later.
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