Hundreds of potential employees filled the ballroom at Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall Wednesday during the third annual Carbon County Job and Career Fair.

The event, sponsored by Pennsylvania CareerLink Carbon County and the Carbon County Economic Development Corp., was open to anyone looking for a job.Shannon Eidem, veterans employment representative at Pennsylvania CareerLink Carbon County, explained that it was a good turnout from the time the doors opened at 11 a.m.A total of 43 area employers and schools attended, setting up booths to meet potential new employees. They offered time to answer any questions, fill out applications and some even conducted interviews.Employers who attended included Ametek, Bayada Home Health Care, Blue Mountain Health System, Crayola, Heritage Hill Senior Community, Horsehead Corporation, Kovatch Mobile Enterprise and Pencor Services, to name a few.In addition, a number of colleges, including Lehigh Carbon Community College, McCann School of Business and Technology, Lackawanna College, Moravian College and Lincoln Technical Institute, were on-hand to showcase what degrees were available at the schools to help employees with preparing for a new career path.Eidem explained that the reason for the fair was because the unemployment rate in Carbon County is 10.7 percent."We thought we would get as many of our local employers in one place so job seekers could meet them face-to-face, ask questions, and possibly find a job," she said, noting that all employers at the fair are currently hiring."Hopefully we're going to get some employment through this and put a dent in that 10.7 percent."She pointed out that this was the first year schools were invited to show what they can offer in the form of preparing a workforce and learning a new career path.She also noted that CareerLink has assistance available to help people going back to school for employment reasons.For more information on CareerLink and ways they can help when looking for employment, visit

http://www.carboncareerlink.org/index.htm or call (570) 325-2701.