The Harlan Center was the location for a job fair on Thursday, with many Harlan County residents and businesses in attendance in hopes of making an employment connection.

According to Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley, the fair was the result of the efforts of multiple entities including the Harlan Fiscal Court, EKCEP, the Harlan County Economic Development Authority and the Harlan County Community Action Agency.

“We’ve had a job fair that has given companies the ability to interact directly with people who are looking for work,” Mosley said. “We’ve had several different companies here, we’ve had a steady stream of people here all day long.”

Mosley said more than 100 people took advantage of the opportunity in the first few hours.

Companies participating in the event included The Harlan County Board of Education, Teleworks USA, Harlan ARH Hospital, SEKRI, the Harlan County Fiscal Court, the Harlan County Detention Center, Addiction Recovery Care, Heartland and the National Guard.

“There are different opportunities for people,” Mosley said. “It’s not just one company that’s got some openings, it’s several different companies that have more than 200 jobs open in this county right now. It’s very exciting to see this many people participate today. There are jobs here. People just have to want to do certain types of jobs.”

Mosley said there are many different types of employment available.

“There’s a diverse selection of opportunities here that have good pay and good benefits associated with those jobs,” Mosley said. “We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with EKCEP and CAA to put this (job fair) on.”

Mosley said One Harlan County held an hourly drawing, giving away several $50 gift cards to applicants. Door prizes were also given away.

“It’s been a very successful day for job seekers and the employers,” Mosley said.

Mosley pointed out anybody who missed the job fair may still put in an application.

“If people didn’t get here today, they can call either Josh Sergent or Jill Blevins at Harlan County CAA at 606-573-5330,” Mosley said. “If they didn’t make it to the job fair and they’re looking for work, call them. They can help.”

Mosley said if the interest is there, more job fairs may follow.

“(Harlan County Economic Development Director) Larry Calhoun and I had met with several companies locally that were saying they had new opportunities,” Mosley said. “We decided to do this…to not only give those folks a venue to identify people, but also to give other employers the same opportunity. So as people say they have job openings, we will gladly do this as many times as necessary.”