‘Just Hire One’ kicks off

With this in mind, La Salle County Chambers, along with North Central Illinois Works (NCI Works) affiliate agencies, joined together for a “just one more” campaign of their own:”Just Hire One.”

The idea behind this collaborative effort is to encourage all businesses in La Salle County to literally just hire one more person than they planned, whether they planned to hire 25 more or no more, the point is to increase that number by one.

Boyd Palmer, executive director of the Ottawa Area Chamber and one of the original organizers of the “Just Hire One” local effort, explained the reasoning behind the initiative.

“Reports show that for every 500 new hires, the unemployment rate in LaSalle County would drop by 1 percent,” he said. 

“And from an economic standpoint, research tells us that for every point the unemployment rate goes down, the economic impact on our area could be up to $30 million over the entire work life of those new hires if we consider all aspects of the economy, such as housing, health care, retail spending, etc.,” added Pam Furlan, executive director of Business Employment Skills Team, Inc. (BEST, Inc.), and also one of the original organizers of the campaign.

As a way of providing employers with a large pool of applicants to draw upon, a “Just Hire One” job fair will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Illinois workNet Center in the Ottawa South Towne Mall. There is no charge to participate for either employers or job seekers.

This event is open to the public, and individuals who plan to attend should come dressed in interview attire and be prepared to discuss qualifications and experience. Employers interested in participating in the job fair should contact Dianna Schuler at (815) 433-4550.

Among other activities and services that may be available to help businesses with additional hiring are on-the-job training programs for eligible job seekers, assistance with the applicant screening process and several on-line referral websites.