Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne hosts job fair to help North Texas businesses find quality workers

North Texas Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne hosted a job fair Thursday, bringing together local employers and job seekers. 

It's good timing with federal enhanced unemployment having ended in June and many workers looking to make a career switch.

Employers from the medical field, education, and federal government met with scores of job candidates.

"I’ve met some great people this whole area, now I’m about to swing around real quick and see what else other opportunities are around here," attendee Rashaad Basemore said.

There was said to be more than 7,000 jobs to be had under the one roof. And from the looks of things, the need is great.

"We moved locations three times, and we had to because this kept growing," Rep. Van Duyne said.

Van Duyne was back in Irving where she once served as the city’s mayor serving as the catalyst for the convention center event. 

She said her interactions with businesses echoed a common theme, the difficulty finding a quality pool of job candidates following the pandemic.

"As we contacted more businesses, this actually became a huge event," she said.

Melissa Thomas spent much of 2020 home with her two children. She’s now ready to return to work.

"I have a lot of different things I’ve done in business development and business operations, but I’ve done tourism events destination management," she said.

Basemore currently has a job but is exploring what’s available.

"So far so good. This whole federal government line is helping me out," he said.