staff writer
09/18/08
Forrest Martin
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A Sept. 10 Job Fair in Fulton attracted 12 out of 14 invited industries/businesses in the Fulton County/Hickman County area. “I think it was a great job fair,” said Eddie Crittendon, executive director of the Fulton County-Hickman County Economic Development Board. The city’s newest business, Hartt Transportation – which is in the process of setting up a trucking terminal in the Fulton Industrial Park, was right there with the rest of the pack. Hartt plans to hire some 65 over-the-road CDL experienced truck drivers. A formal announcement of the new business will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 24, at a meet and greet event for company officials to meet area residents. People were lining up in front of Hartt Transportation’s space at the Job Fair, like Lucas James, from Union City, who was fresh home from Iraq. Until a month ago, James, 27, had driven trucks for civilian contractor Kellogg, Brown, Root (KBR) and faced enemy fire. James was hired. Scott Grant, Hartt Transportation’s recruiter, and Bill Tracey, terminal general manager, were on hand to discuss the jobs with applicants. And, like ice cream on apple pie, another new business prospect - Midwest Railcon - was at the Job Fair as well. Gary Hays, Midwest’s half-owner, said that Midwest plans to buy the former 150,000 square foot Dura Plant on College Street as a headquarters site and to re-manufacture damaged rail cars. A formal announcement will be made, once they purchase the building and take care of some other details. Darrell Pullen, the other co-owner, said the company will probably hire a few people at first and more in the spring or summer, once the plant starts operating at capacity. The co-owners expect to hire a total of 50 workers by the time they are in full production next year. “We’ll need people with general mechanical skills, painters, sandblasters, machinists, warehouse people and clerical,” Hays told applicant George Harris, of Fulton. The estimated hourly wage range is $10 to $17.50, according to information the company filed with the state. “We’ve been talking to Canadian National Railroad and they tell us they have hundreds of cars that need repair and restoration,” Hays said. In January, under the Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act, Midwest received state approval for a preliminary tax credit for $2 million for the project. “This typically is a first step a company takes in locating a plant,” said Mandy Lambert, a spokesman for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Likewise, the company received preliminary approval from the state of $42,000 in negotiated state sales tax for expenses and building under the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act. “I am excited about the possibility of another industry wanting to locate in the Fulton County-Hickman County area,” Crittendon said. “We are going to continue to work to bring in more industries to the two counties,” he said, “This is just one more step in that process. He praised the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board for putting together such a successful Job Fair. They sponsored the event, held at the Pontotoc Community Center, along with the Fulton County-Hickman County Economic Partnership Board. While most businesses did not have as many upcoming jobs as the two new ones mentioned, there are some open now at existing businesses – like Insteel Wire Products in Hickman. Plant Manager Greg Love said, “We have four openings - in maintenance and production. We hope to hire someone soon.” Sam Price, the plant manager at Letica Corp., said they had no openings that day, but openings occur there all the time so they are taking applications. “We got a bunch of them, and they are qualified.” Donna Myatt, office manager for Burke-Parsons-Bowlby in Fulton County, said they need two experienced knuckle boom operators and one person in the treatment plant. Jamie Madding, owner of Bermag Industry in Hickman, said, “I have one job to fill in the grinding/clean-up department. That person would take the raw aluminum casting out of a mold and get it ready to ship.” A spokesman for Hickman Pipe and Tool said they need a steel fabricator. And Janice Bone, Parkway Regional Hospital’s Human Resources director, said the hospital is looking for a Registered Nurse who could work in ICU as well as the Emergency Room. The hospital also has non-degree positions it needs to fill from time to time, she said. Among the many applicants turning out for the Job Fair was Jennifer Jackson, 24, of South Fulton. She said she currently has a job but would like to find one with higher pay and a new work experience for her. Kimberley Traylor, of Fulton, who had worked for Dura 19 years before the plant closed, now works at Goodyear, which recently laid off workers for two weeks. “I’d like to be prepared if something else comes along. I’d like a permament job with good benefits” that is going to be there every day, Traylor said. Fulton resident Kenney Melton, who also had been a Dura employee, said, “With the price of gas as it is, I’d just like to find something closer to home.” He has to drive to the Dyersburg, Tenn., area for his current job. John H. Avent, of South Fulton, was seated at a desk with several others as they filled out application forms. Avent, 51, said, “I am looking for a factory job, something close to home.”
