Maryville job fair draws more than 650 job seekers; vendors expect to hire roughly 260

Maryville — Town staff told the council on Aug. 12 that this year’s job fair hosted more than 70 vendor organizations and over 650 job seekers, and that a post-event vendor survey of 31 respondents indicated anticipated hires totaling more than 260 positions.

"We had over 70 different vendors at our job fair and over 650 job seekers that came through," Chaz, a town administration staff member, said during the meeting. Chaz credited Linda and other staff for organizing the event and said organizers also hosted a preparation event, "Ready, Set, Hired," ahead of the fair.

As part of the job-fair program, organizers held a raffle. Town staff announced tablet winners Zachary Sperling and Donald Sturgis, and said laptops were awarded to participants in the Ready, Set, Hired preparation event — named as Joe Tempe and Tiffany Washington.

Council members thanked event staff and volunteers. The town did not present employment contracts or firm hire confirmations at the meeting; the staffing numbers described reflect vendor responses to a survey and are therefore anticipatory rather than finalized hires.