The Georgia Department of Labor, Bainbridge-Decatur County, the Chamber of Commerce and Bainbridge State College will host a manufacturing job fair next Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Kirbo Center.

“This is a really good chance for folks who are without a job to come look for one,” said Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Industrial Development Authority. “It’s also a good chance for people who maybe already have a job to look around and see what else is out there.”

The job fair will go from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can visit tables with representatives from participating companies and ask questions, collect information and network.

The idea for the job fair came when Bainbridge Manufacturing, a local company that builds vehicle air conditioning components, began to look at ramping up its employee search. A handful of employees work at Bainbridge Manufacturing now that recently wrapped up training at the end of 2017, and another group of trainees began working in January.

“They were looking for a batch of good candidates,” McCaskill said. “Because they decided to do that, we decided to reach out to other manufacturers in the community to see if they wanted to participate.”

McCaskill said Decatur County is sitting at 5 percent unemployment, adding that not a lot of residents are searching for work right now. Nevertheless, he hopes people will take advantage of the networking opportunity.

“We think we are going to have a good job fair and I encourage folks to come out and talk to (the companies),” McCaskill said.

Participating companies include:

Bainbridge Manufacturing

Danimer

Ergon

Georgia Gulf Sulfur

R. Squared Solutions

Steward Machine

For questions or concerns, please call the Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce at 229-246-4774.