WESTFIELD—The city of Westfield, along with two area nonprofits, are hosting a job fair on Nov. 16 to help those who lost jobs due to the abrupt closure of Berkshire Industries.
The city will be working with the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County (REBHC) and the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts (Western Mass EDC) to provide displaced workers from Berkshire Industries a job fair on Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Genesis Spiritual Life Center on Mill Street in Westfield. Around 80 employees were left without jobs following the closing of Berkshire Industries Oct. 26.
The exterior of Berkshire Industries located at 109 Apremont Way, Westfield.
“We’d like to keep those Westfield employees continuing to work in Westfield,” Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan said.
According to City Advancement Officer Joe Mitchell, there will be nearly 40 companies that will be invited to the job fair. According to Mitchell, many companies have been reaching out to the city in response to the displaced workers.
In addition, David Cruise, president and CEO of REBHC, said that over 30 companies have contact the REBHC about the workers.
“We have over 30 companies now that have contacted us and we’ve been in contact with each one of those companies,” Cruise said. “We indicated that we are in process of trying to get in touch with these individuals.”
According to Cruise, his group is looking to contact the displaced workers in order to attempt to help them find employment. Cruise said that normally when an event of such large employment loss occurs, a state rapid response team goes in and provides assistance for the employees, with a member of that team being from the REBHC.
However, due to how the event transpired this was not able to occur, Cruise noted.
Cruise said that the REBHC is still seeking the employees affected, so that they can put them in contact with companies seeking their help.
“As we ID them and then talk to them we have a significant number of employers willing to talk with these folks,” he said.
“We’re trying to get them back to work. we have a group of employers who have indicated interest in interviewing them, and for these employees that’s a really good situation,” Cruise said.
One way that identification can occur, Cruise said, is if those affected go to one of two regional offices in the area: CareerPoint, 850 High St., Holyoke, or FutureWorks, 1 Federal St., Springfield.
In addition, they can go to the job fair in Westfield next weekend.
