Earlier this week, DEED and our Leading CareerForce Partner City of Minneapolis Employment and Training hosted the third annual Veterans & Community Job Fair at the CareerForce location at 800 West Broadway in north Minneapolis. The energy in the room – full of employers and job seekers – was truly palpable. Job seekers visited with 40 employers hiring now for positions in Minneapolis and the surrounding community.  

Unemployment is low in Minnesota and that means employers face a tougher time finding candidates for their open positions. But as we’ve seen over the last six months, more and more Minnesotans are joining the labor force – and many of them are looking for jobs now.

One person looking for work at the job fair yesterday was Andrea Lazarich, who met with eight employer recruiters and is looking for a position in accounting or supply chain management. She remarked, “It’s been great. There are so many employers here!”

One of those employers was Patrick Chavie, field service manager at TSBL Distributing in Anoka and a U.S. Military Veteran. TSBL sells and services soft-serve ice cream machines and other equipment for fast food restaurants throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Chavie set up a soft-serve ice cream machine in his booth to help draw in potential job applicants. It seemed to work well!  Here's what Chavie said: “It was awesome! We got a lot of leads in a short amount of time. There were a lot of people walking through there looking for employment, lots of traffic. I have a good feeling about it!”

At the event, job seekers and employers alike seemed buoyed by hope. There were many good-paying employment opportunities available – and employers were able to meet with a steady stream of people looking for work.

I was honored to help kick off the job fair with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Jonathan Weinhagen, the chair of Minneapolis Workforce Development Board and president & CEO at the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. DEED CareerForce Minneapolis Manager Leona Martin emceed the event, which came together with strong support from CareerForce Veterans Employment Services Director Ray Douha, Local Veterans Employment Representative Robert Willis and the entire CareerForce team in Minneapolis.

The event helped celebrate Workforce Development Month, a time during which DEED and our workforce development partners highlight efforts to connect Minnesotans to high-growth, high-demand jobs through job training and workforce development programs. Of course, that work continues all year – and thanks to the additional funding DEED secured during the past legislative session, we’ll have even more tools to do that work successfully.

Helping people get prepared for a successful job search with the right skills for in-demand employment is critical. During the last legislative session, DEED secured more than $216.5 million for our Employment and Training Programs over the next two years. This includes three new programs: the Targeted Populations Workforce Grants, $50 million to support workforce development in historically overlooked communities; the Drive for Five program, $20 million to build up Minnesota’s workforce in five fields with in-demand, high-growth jobs; and the $3 million Clean Economy Equitable Workforce grant program to create a pipeline of workers from Black, Indigenous and Communities of Color. We also doubled funding for DEED’s existing youth workforce training programs, projected to serve more than 38,000 young Minnesotans over the next two years.  

This is a critical time – during low unemployment and high worker demand – to help people who may have become discouraged in their job search to reengage with the labor force. In Minnesota, the CareerForce system is made up of DEED and Local Workforce Development Area staff and nonprofit partners. CareerForce serves all Minnesota job seekers at no cost to those looking for work. Anyone can get assistance with their resume, preparing for a job interview and developing a solid job search strategy. CareerForce staff can also help determine if a person is eligible for additional support, like no-cost training programs. I invite Minnesotans to get the career exploration and job search help they need at a CareerForce location near them by visiting CareerForceMN.com/locations or by calling 651-259-7500.