Additional comments from area residents at the April 21 Job Fair held in Athens

Eric Heck of Athens has worked for several years for a local company, and enjoys the job. His company has been hurt by the country’s economic downturn, though, and has had to reduce its costs in the last few years. Because of the company’s need to cut back, Heck was laid off for a few months beginning in December 2008 and then was laid off again in December 2009.

“It is discouraging,” Heck said. He worked for the U.S. Census Bureau for a few weeks in 2009 and will be working for the U.S. Census Bureau again this summer. After that, he is hoping to get called back to his original job, but he does not know if that will happen or not. He is trying to find steady, full-time work, and turned in a few resumes and applications to companies represented at the Job Fair, but he has not been able to find a permanent, full-time job yet. He is concerned about his job prospects, but is hopeful he will be working full-time again soon.

Meigs County resident Lora Langdon worked in home health care for 10 years, but had to stop working in that field because of an injury. She went back to school and earned a degree to work as a medical office assistant, but has not found job in that field yet.

While she is looking for a full-time job, she is working a service industry job in order to help pay the bills. Langdon needs a full-time position, though, where she can earn more money. If she can’t find work as a medical office assistant, she will consider going back to work in home health care in spite of her injury, simply because she needs the work and there are jobs available in this field. She said she was happy to be able to talk to a few employers at the job fair, and added that she also picked up a few job applications for one of her relatives.