Job fair canceled after few employer commitments; commission plans to reschedule with new strategy

Commissioners reviewed a canceled job fair and the online criticism that followed. The chair said the commission had about eight employers signed up but that on follow‑up some employers were not hiring or could not attend, so staff and partners determined the event would not be viable and canceled it.

"We had about 8 employers signed up," the chair said, describing repeated outreach to confirm participation. Commissioners described negative online comments after the cancellation and discussed operational reasons — timing (holiday vs. spring), employer availability and potential overlap with economic development or county job fairs.

The commission discussed possible remedies: target a different season (January or spring), coordinate with the county’s economic development schedule, pursue indoor venues, and focus explicitly on recruiting employers who can commit to attend. Commissioners suggested separating youth‑oriented college/high‑school fairs from adult career fairs to avoid duplication and to better reach adult jobseekers.

No formal motion to relaunch was recorded in the transcript; commissioners agreed to put planning for a future job fair on a future agenda and to follow up with county economic development staff to avoid duplication.