Before the doors opened this morning for Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay’s 5th Annual Career Fair at Harris-Stowe State University, a line of eager job seekers stretched almost around the building.  By noon, four thousand guests had come through the doors. Overall attendance numbered more than 5,000 visitors.

“This incredible community response exceeded my greatest hopes for this year’s Career Fair,” said the Congressman.  “It shows the urgency of unemployment and underemployment in the First Congressional District and throughout the St. Louis region.  My number one priority is to help put my constituents back to work and to connect them with job opportunities that they could not take advantage of by themselves.  We accomplished that today in a big way, and I am very proud to have helped so many good people who are skilled, highly motivated, and ready to go to work.”

Job seekers were able to meet face-to-face with over 100 top St. Louis employers, including: the Boeing Company; GKN Aerospace; Express Scripts; BJC Healthcare Systems; World Wide Technology; the St. Louis Public Library; Wells Fargo Advisors; CVS Pharmacy; Centene; Best Buy; Lumiere Place; Harrah’s; Ameristar; the Social Security Administration, the TSA; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and many local law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management joined the Career Fair lineup by providing a one-stop shop for interested job seekers to learn about, and apply for, over 100,000 federal jobs, worldwide.  OPM officials also conducted break-out sessions and provided help to veterans who have special standing for many federal jobs.

Congressman Clay’s Fifth Annual Career Fair was presented with the invaluable help and support of Harris-Stowe State University and all of our outstanding vendor partners.  We thank them for their participation and we look forward to Career Fair ‘2011.