NEW WINDSOR – More than 60 employers met with job seekers Monday as the Orange and Dutchess County chambers of commerce teamed up with Congresswoman Nan Hayworth to sponsor an employment fair at Anthony's Pier 9. Throngs gathered, resumes in hand, to meet with a variety of recruiters and attend workshops on job search strategies and interviewing techniques.

Hayworth (R-19) touched on the various impediments to companies that may want to hire new, but are burdened by cost. The practiced physician pointed to costs associated with the 2010 Healthcare Reform Bill as an albatross acting as a hiring disincentive for companies, causing them to rely more on part-time workers.

"There are better ways to do what that law wants to do that would not impose such enormous costs on our citizens and employers," Hayworth said, citing defensive medicine costs as a problem unique to the United States. This refers to tests and medications meted out by a company for liability reasons, which may take dollars away from people who actually need treatment.

But Hayworth was optimistic on the job fair's potential, reflecting on a Christmas card she received from a woman who had been employed through their November fair in Fishkill. That fair had drawn over a thousand, and Monday's was 75 percent bigger, said the congresswoman. At about 7.5 percent, the Hudson Valley's unemployment rating does fare better than the national average. But it's still higher than it should be, she said.

“We have people here who clearly would like to have work and haven't been able to find it yet," said Hayworth. "What people tell me is they really like to meet with prospective employers face to face. So much is done online and that can make it more accessible…but meeting face to face is a whole different thing."

During one of the seminars, she instructed applicants to put their best foot forward during the interview process and rely on friends and family for support, recalling the three rounds of interviews she endured during her ascent into Congress. They are actively seeking to hold future fairs, she said, perhaps even one targeting only veterans.