Job fair draws more than 1,000 job seekers

By Laura Elder
The Daily News
Published February 18, 2010

GALVESTON — In April, when Tony Salas lost his job in Pasadena as a pipe designer for the petrochemical industry, he wasn’t too worried.

Salas, who was earning about $93,000 a year, had built up some savings and decided to use the time off for a long vacation. He figured he’d find a job within a week when he began looking in October.

But weeks have turned into months, and the Texas City resident found himself Wednesday among nearly 1,500 people — some who’d lined up hours before the doors opened at 9 a.m. — to meet prospective employers at the Oceans of Opportunities Job Fair.

“I socked some money away, but it’s going away quick,” Salas, 34, said.

Attendance was nearly double that of last year’s job fair, organized by the city and several island organizations and employers, including the Galveston Chamber of Commerce and the University of Texas Medical Branch and held in the city’s seawall convention center.

As job seekers lined up, some as early as 6:45 a.m., to drop off résumés and shake hands with prospective employers, the Federal Reserve announced it expected the pace of the nation’s economic recovery to be restrained by uncertainty and only gradual improvement in labor market conditions and a slow easing of credit restrictions.

The national unemployment rate this year could hover between 9.5 percent and 9.7 percent, the Fed said.

Still, not all is bleak locally. The unemployment rate in Galveston, which surged after Hurricane Ike in September 2008 knocked hundreds of small businesses out of commission, is stabilizing, according to data from Texas Workforce Solutions, which manages employment services and training in the region.

In Galveston, unemployment was at 8.1 percent at the end of December 2009 — the latest data available — compared with 9.6 percent for the same period the year before.

The improvement on the island can be attributed to the reopening of small businesses, Joel Wagher, labor market analyst for Workforce Solutions, said.

Countywide, unemployment was at 8.9 percent in December 2009, compared with 7.6 percent for the same period the year before.

But while the large crowd was a symptom of the lingering recession, it also showed some promise to Gina Spagnola, president of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce.

Many participants Wednesday were seeking to return to the island, which lost 20 percent of its population after Hurricane Ike destroyed hundreds of homes.

Also promising was that the fair featured 75 employers, most of which were filling well-paying positions.

“If you want to work, the jobs are out there,” Spagnola said.

Banks, retailers and hotels had plenty of openings, as did government agencies and large corporations.

Among the participants were American National Insurance Co., the city of Galveston, College of the Mainland, the FBI, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, IBC Bank, the medical branch, ISP Technologies, Randalls and Remington College, to name a few.

Saralyn Harris was among former Galvestonians seeking to return to the island.

Harris, 59, is applying for federal funding through the city to help repair her house in the 3900 block of Sealy, which was badly damaged in the storm.

She has been earning a living as a substitute teacher for the Galveston Independent School District, but most of her pay is getting burned up in fuel costs as she commutes from Webster, where she lives with her daughter as she awaits repairs to her house.

Harris was hoping to get an office job with the city, she said.

Most prospective employers interviewed said they were pleased with the turnout and the quality of candidates.

Bambi Teaff, educational director for The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, had a thick stack of résumés at her booth.

She was seeking lead teachers and assistants for the Friendswood private school that takes in children ages 6 weeks to 6 years.

An assistant position pays from $8 to $10 an hour, while a lead teacher position pays from $10 to $15 an hour but requires a college degree.

Malin International Ship Repair & Drydock Inc., which operates on the island, was seeking welders and fitters. Before 11 a.m., the company already had lined up several candidates.

Island resident Jim Brennan, 52, recently was laid off by a small island firm that he declined to name. A victim of the recession, the firm was losing revenue.

Brennan works in safety and Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance.

He was hoping Wednesday to get a job with a larger firm with various departments that allowed lateral transfers.

Brennan had been earning about $40,000 a year when he was laid off. Single and without children, he’s getting by, he said.

“But the days are getting longer,” he said.

Still, the job fair was encouraging, he said.

“Seeing what opportunities are available, I’m excited by the possibilities,” he said.