Some employment seekers strike gold at Moab job fair

Many swarmed the Moab Arts and Recreation Center on Wednesday seeking employment from about two dozen companies and agencies that had set up booths. The annual event ran from 8 a.m. until noon.

There were jobs to be had, too. Some applicants struck gold during the job fair’s first two hours.

“Everyone is hiring within the next month or so,” said organizer Kelly Thornton, workforce development specialist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “Our employers have reported good applicants and some jobs have already been offered.”

Blu Pig owner Penny Tanner planned to hire 30 people for part-time or full-time work. The jobs included cooks, servers, food runners, dishwashers, food prep specialists, bartenders, hostesses and table bussers.

With tourist season kicking off the first of March, Tanner said there’s no time to waste. She listed the available positions on a blackboard next to her booth.

The Grand County job market has improved in the last couple of years, according to information from the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The agency’s website shows the county’s unemployment rate was 8.7 percent in 2012, down from 9.8 percent in 2011, 10.7 percent in 2010 and 10.3 percent in 2009.

Moab City Economic Development Specialist Ken Davey said economic growth has been steady but nothing major.

Davey noted that some hotel firms plan expansions in Moab and he called that an encouraging sign. Moab Times

DWS to host Job Fair February 19, 2013

The Utah Department of Workforce Services in partnership with San Juan County Economic Development is sponsoring a job fair in Blanding on February 19, 2013 from 2:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. It will be held at the Blanding Arts and Events Center located at 715 West 200 South, Blanding.

Participants are asked to register with DWS to gain admittance to the job fair. Early Registration can be done by going to the Blanding Employment Center.

Employers that wish to participate can contact Kelly Thornton by email kthornto@utah.gov or telephone (435) 719-2630. Department of Workforce Services

Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund Board Approves Funding for 497 Affordable Housing Units in Utah

The Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund Board approved $6,933,092 in low interest loans for housing projects throughout the state of Utah during a funding meeting held here on January 24.

Salt Lake County will be home to many of the approved projects, other projects will be constructed in Grand and Weber Counties. Department of Workforce Services

DWS to host Job Fair February 6, 2013

The Utah Department of Workforce Services is sponsoring a job fair in Moab on February 6, 2013 from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. It will be held at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center located at 111 East 100 North, Moab.

Participants are asked to register with DWS to gain admittance to the job fair. Early Registration can be done through the internet at jobs.utah.gov or by going to the Moab Employment Center.

Attendees who register at the employment center are asked to bring a prepared master application or
résumé. Employees can assist those who do not have a résumé, as well as, offer help with strategies for approaching employers. An express admission to the job fair will be provided to those who come into the employment center.

Registration will be accepted at the door when participants show their prepared master application or
résumé in hand.

Employers that wish to participate can contact Kelly Thornton by email kthornto@utah.gov or telephone (435) 719-2630.  Department of Workforce Services

DWS to Host Employer Seminar Finding and Keeping the Best Employees

The Department of Workforce Services in partnership with the Moab Area Chamber of Commerce, Moab Business Resource Center, Moab City Economic Development, and Moab Business Expansion and Retention Program are sponsoring an Employer Seminar. There is no fee attached to this event.

Where: USU Moab Campus 125 West 200 South, Moab, Utah
When: Thursday, January 24, 2013, 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.

By attending this Employer Seminar local employers will hear a practical approach to hiring, training and retaining good employees.

Due to limited space please RSVP to Kelly Thornton at 435-719-2630 or kthornto@utah.gov

Utah Department of Workforce Services

Small-town Papers Alive and Well in Utah

While there are days, production Mondays usually, when he might fantasize about its demise, Bill Boyle, editor and publisher of the San Juan Record, is proud to say the paper's popularity is as strong as ever.

Eighteen years ago, when he left his job as a banker in Seattle and moved back to his hometown to buy its weekly newspaper, the print circulation was about 2,000.

Eighteen years later, it's still about 2,000, plus 400 online subscribers.

That doesn't mean there aren't headaches. Costs have gone up over the years while revenue —the classified ad line has shrunk a bit —has gone down, but in the Internet Age that is leveling big-city newspapers right and left, the small-town weeklies are hanging in there.

Helping prove the point was a book released nationally a year ago: "Emus Loose in Egnar: Big Stories from Small Towns," written by NPR's Judy Muller.


Muller crisscrossed the "blue roads" of the country, visiting weeklies from coast to coast. When she was finished, she wrote, "This just in: journalism is not dead. It is alive and kicking in small towns all across America thanks to the editors of weekly newspapers who, for very little money and a fair amount of aggravation, keep on telling it like it is."

One of those editors she profiled was Bill Boyle of the San Juan Record.

Muller praised Boyle's diligence as an editor and detailed the delicate balance he had to walk as a reporter and community member when the Indian artifacts bust decimated San Juan County three years ago.

At first, back before the Internet complicated everything, he could concentrate just on running the paper. Now he wears many more hats. But if the economic realities for newspapers have changed, even for weeklies, the content and popularity of the San Juan Record hasn't.

"The paper is still the community gathering spot," he says. "People still look for it in their mailbox. They still want the local flavor, they want to disagree. Where else are you going to read about a controlled burn that goes out of control? I don't think that will end up in the Wall Street Journal."

And out here in the country, away from Craigslist and eBay, people still advertise their real estate and job openings in the classifieds. Deseret News

Sundance rebounds, Utah movie industry on the rise

The Sundance Film Festival is bouncing back from a two-year economic downturn, and the head of the Utah Film Commission said the state has seen an upturn in the film business in recent months.

“Our projections are the overnight attendance for the festival will be up 12 percent this year over last year,” said Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Malone. “It’s not just on the front end or the back end, it’s an increase in visitation every day of the festival.” This comes after Sundance business took a hit in 2009 and 2010 because of the struggling economy.

For his part, Utah Film Commission Director Marshall Moore described an uptick of another kind.

“Not only are we the host state of the Sundance Film Festival, we hosted 25 film and television productions” in 2010, Moore said. The list includes “127 Hours” and the upcoming movies “John Carter of Mars,” “Darling Companion,” “The Age of Dragons” and “Unicorn City.”

“Overall, the film industry in the state of Utah is healthy. We had our best year ever last year,” said Moore. Movie and TV productions brought the state “over a thousand jobs last year, and over a $50 million impact for the state of Utah.”

He said that was especially true in rural Utah, “where much of the economic impact took place. Although a lot of it does take place in Salt Lake, we saw it in areas like Moab and Kanab and Delta and Hanksville. More than we’d seen in any other single year since I’ve been the director of the film commission.” Salt Lake Tribune