More Than 600 Attend Job Fair

Source: The Clanton Advertiser

Lewis Wright stood in line for 30 minutes Tuesday to apply for a job.

He was one of the lucky ones.

A job fair held by Boatright at the Clanton Recreation Center drew more than 600 applicants, said Lisa O’Daniel, executive assistant to the president of the company. Those that arrived after the 8 a.m. beginning of the fair found themselves in a line that stretched beside Highway 145 all the way across the adjacent parking lot.

“I got here at 8 and waited 30-35 minutes,” said Wright, a Clanton resident. “It’s worth it, just to have a chance to get a job.”

Wright said he’s been out of work for about six months. He’s trying to provide for his wife and three children.

“My job right now is to look for a job,” he said.

That’s the strategy several others apparently used Tuesday. O’Daniel said she arrived at the site of the fair at about 6:20 a.m., and there were already people in line. They told her they had been there since 3 o’clock that morning.

“They said they wanted to be first in line,” O’Daniel said. “With the economy the way it is, we knew there would be people here, but it has exceeded our expectations.”

Fourteen Boatright staff members helped at the fair, taking applications, conducting interviews and handing out bottled water (O’Daniel said they went through 60 cases).

The fair also included appearances by Miss Alabama Anna Laura Bryan and 2006 Miss Alabama Alexa (Jones) Boatright, the wife of company president and CEO Shane Boatright.

O’Daniel said Boatright officials hope to contact new hires within a month. The remainder of the applications will be kept on file in case more positions come open.

Boatright operates a crosstie plant in Montevallo and is opening one in Chilton County, in the industrial park in Lomax. The job fair was an effort to hire 50-100 employees for both plants.

“We got some great applicants,” O’Daniel said. “We’re all thrilled.”

The Chilton County plant is scheduled to open in January 2013.