Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/25/2021
SOUTHWICK – Members of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) are hoping that Southwick’s upcoming job fair on Sept. 21 will help Southwick businesses hire workers as pandemic unemployment benefits expire.
The job fair is scheduled for Sept. 21 in the Town Hall auditorium from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. EDC member Amber Bach said that there will be a maximum of 25 businesses who can participate.
The job fair comes as Southwick’s unemployment numbers remain relatively elevated compared to pre-pandemic numbers. EDC Chair Michael McMahon said in July that the April and May unemployment rate in Southwick was approximately six percent.
Bach said during the Aug. 18 EDC meeting that she is hoping that the expiration of the $300 unemployment bonus on Sept. 4 will motivate people who have remained unemployed to begin seeking jobs again. In some cases, people who are using the unemployment bonus are making more money than if they were to be working, which some believe is a reason for the relatively elevated unemployment numbers even as the economy is reopened.
Bach said that the issue is not unique to everyday businesses either. She said that Big E vendors are having difficulty hiring staff for their booths or stores for the upcoming return of the Big E, which did not take place in 2020.
“Everyone I know with a spot at the big E is struggling to find people to work their booths,” said Bach.
She said that her family volunteered to help out with a friend’s booth throughout the Big E, because they struggled to find employees.
The maximum number of businesses at the job fair will be 25, but Bach said that the event will take place even if only a small number of businesses show up to participate.
“Even if we only have five businesses we are still going to do it,” said Bach, “The people that want to do it need the hires. So we will do whatever we can to help them out.”