BBCC summer job fair draws varied interest

MOSES LAKE — Brandy Valdez and Hunter Barnett were among several hundred who came to the summer job fair at Big Bend Community College Thursday with the goal of expanding their horizons.

Both have jobs, but they want better ones, Valdez said.

“Something way better,” she said.

“I’m just looking for something different,” Barnett said. “I’m looking for a career, not a job.”

About 70 employer booths filled the main conference room at the ATEC Building at 7662 Chanute St. NE, spilling out into the hallways. Employers were looking for people to fill a wide variety of jobs, from delivery drivers to health care workers, electricians to office workers to the Washington National Guard.

Beginning in July, people receiving unemployment benefits had to look for work and provide proof of weekly job searches to the state Employment Security Department. Pandemic-related unemployment benefits, however, will continue to be paid in Washington state until Sept. 4.

Because of that, Jody Bortz, director of career services at BBCC, said some of the unemployed were beginning to think about returning to work.

Bortz also said there are a number of unfilled job openings in Grant and Adams counties and there are simply not enough interested people to fill all the local job openings.

On Thursday, Osvaldo Zempoalteca and Guadalupe Collazo were looking for opportunities. Both are new graduates of Central Washington University, and Zempoalteca has a job. But it’s just something to pay the bills, he said, and he wanted something that would allow him to use his degree.

Gustavo Galvez and Adan Martinez also have jobs, and also were looking for more opportunities.

“Looking for something that we could get interested in,” Galvez said.

The same was true of sisters Vanessa Gonzales and Andrea Gonzales, who were filling out applications from various exhibitors. Both are employed, Vanessa Gonzales said, but they want something better.

Joanne Anderson of the Grant County PUD said attendance appeared similar to the last job fair she attended at BBCC in early March 2020, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I didn’t expect this many people today,” Anderson said.

Andi Vincent of Midway Beverage was looking for commercial drivers interested in taking delivery routes. That was a little harder sell than some other jobs -- the pay is good, she said, but the job involves a lot of starts and stops, loading and unloading. Some people were interested, others not so much.

“It’s kind of hit or miss,” she said.

Liz Janetos, recruiting for Ambitions, disability support services for adults with special needs, also noticed some people were more interested than others. After an hour she said she had serious interest from three people, some people who just walked by and others who said the job wasn’t for them.