Hundreds seek Towne Centre jobs

Hundreds of job-seekers piled into a local hotel yesterday for the Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole job fair. Many were looking for ways to supplement their incomes, while others sought a foothold in the workforce after being laid off.

A half hour before the event began at Annapolis Sheraton Hotel on Jennifer Road, 150 attendees already were milling in the lobby.

Developer Brian Gibbons said the more than a dozen businesses present had between 900 and 950 vacant positions to fill - almost five times as many as event planners originally thought - with Target, P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant providing about two-thirds of the jobs. Mr. Gibbons said he was not sure of the full-time to part-time ratio of job openings.

The somewhat frenzied crowds poured into the conference room once the ribbon-cutting ceremony ended, the way throngs of day-after Thanksgiving shoppers rush the sales racks. Event coordinators said between 800 and 1,000 job hunters perused the exhibits and talked to recruiters during the four-hour event.

Many attendees snapped up applications and found any nearby flat surface to begin filling them out. Walls, clipboards, friends' backs and the floor served as desks.

"I'm very impressed and amazed at the turnout," said Susan Gallagher, Anne Arundel County Workforce Development Corp. director of field operations. "You look around, and you see there's a real hunger among these people for jobs."

Businesses included many of the stores opening between Oct. 12 and Thanksgiving as well as a few that will open in 2009. Coldwater Creek, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Great Gatherings, J. Jill, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, SECU Credit Union, Smyth Jewelers, Sur la Table, Talbots, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Eastern Mountain Sports had representatives at the event.

Morale was up for many of the job-seekers, who said they believed with so many openings, they were sure to land a position with one of the vendors.

Tysha Wright, a single mom who has been unemployed since May when she lost her job as a dispatcher for Annapolis Bay-Area Taxi, was one of them. For the past few months she's been relying on babysitting gigs to get by.

She heard about the event from an ad in the "Pennysaver" and bought a new outfit to make a good first impression on potential employers.

"I did my own sort of job fair just recently," she said after completing a J. Jill application and waiting in line at the Target table. "I went around in the mall and filled out about 10 applications. I hope something good comes out of this. I'm trying to charm them."

The Target exhibit table had a mob of people encircling it. Kellie Posey, an executive team leader for the store, said they were looking to schedule more than 150 interviews that day for jobs ranging from entry-level to leadership, and even some specialty positions requiring bilingual applicants. The hourly wages they are offering fall between $9 and $11, she said.

"We're excited to be here," Ms. Posey said. "We feel all the love from the community."

Target human resources team leader Elisha Foxx said though no one would be hired on the day of the fair, the store would be conducting mass hires on Friday and Saturday.

Attendees came from diverse backgrounds and for varying reasons.

Some people came looking for more hours of work. Laura Garner, who works from home part-time for Bowie Medical Transcription, said now that her oldest child is in college, she needs a full-time job to compensate for the additional costs of living.

"I mean prices are horrible. The food, the gas … " Ms. Garner said. "But college, college is outrageously expensive."

Donte Boston, who currently is unemployed, was hoping for the best when he picked up a handful of applications and a clipboard yesterday. He lost his job as a cook at Pizza Hut in Edgewater about two months ago and has had trouble paying his rent and making his car payments ever since.

"I hope I get a call back from at least one or two," he said.

Unemployment in Anne Arundel County crept from 4 percent in June to 4.2 percent by the end of July.

And the number of county residents without jobs in June, which was 11,300, grew to 12,100 people in July - an 800-person increase in those competing for work in an already tightening job market.