Hudson Valley chambers offer networking for job seekers
If you”™re tired of pounding the steamy summer pavement looking for work or sweltering by the computer emailing resumes, keep your chin up. The fall is coming ”“ and that means new opportunities for job seekers.
Whether you”™re in search of full- or part-time employment, the best way to get your name out there is through networking, say chamber presidents throughout the Hudson Valley.
Local chambers of commerce are planning a number of events that will offer opportunities for job seekers to network with business owners and for companies to showcase their specialties at trade shows.
Kathy English, membership consultant for the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce, said there”™s no charge for job seekers to come to any of the chamber”™s events. “We encourage them to come to our business breaks and seminars and to bring their resumes. We”™re all about networking, and we invite job seekers to participate as much as possible.”
Orange County”™s Chamber of Commerce business expo is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Anthony”™s Pier 9 in New Windsor. Its 200 booths are already almost sold out. Free tickets are available online at the chamber”™s web site.
Job seekers can also take advantage of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce”™s Job Fair, also scheduled for Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel. Booth space is available and the event is free to both participating businesses and job seekers. Space is limited and the chamber said it is only accepting vendors with legitimate job positions they are seeking to fill immediately.
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The Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce is planning its seventh annual business showcase and street fair for Sunday, Oct. 4, in Mahopac on Route 6N and in the Mahopac Chamber of Commerce Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vendors will include retailers and other businesses, with booths ranging in price from $130 for chamber members to $147 for non-members. Shared booths are available.
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The Rockland Business Association is gearing up for its annual Business-to-Business Expo, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 8, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Park Ridge Marriott in New Jersey. Booths are priced from $425 for members and $600 for non-members. “Businesses can share a booth, but the limit is two per booth,” said Roger Scheiber, vice president of development. “This year, we”™ll have a job posting board for people looking for work.”
The following week, the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to host its annual Showcase of Champions on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from noon to 6:30 p.m. at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel. Booths are priced at $450 for members.
For those in the building and construction trades, the Hudson Valley Builders Association has just set the date for its annual trade show: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, scheduled for 2 to 7:30 p.m. at Anthony”™s Pier 9 in New Windsor.
Construction work can”™t come soon enough to the Hudson Valley, said Pat Ploeger, executive director of the Hudson Valley Mechanical Contractors Association in Millwood, which has members in Dutchess, Putnam, Ulster and Westchester. “Right now, we are at one of the highest unemployment rates we”™ve ever seen,” said Ploeger.
“The construction industry has been particularly hard hit. Even projects that are on the board are seeing investors pulling back funding. Developers are also holding back. It”™s been frighteningly slow. We”™re hanging in there, trying to do our best to stay alive until the market turns around; we just don”™t have a crystal ball to tell us when that will happen.”