Kansas WorkforceONE and Emporia’s Rapid Response Task Force are moving quickly to connect people with resources after two significant business closure announcements within the last two weeks.
WorkforceONE and Rapid Response are active after the immediate closure of Hopkins announced two weeks ago, preceded by the announcement of a May closure at ABZ Valve in Madison. Kansas WorkforceONE Digital Communication Supervisor Nadia Qureshi, KVOE’s Newsmaker guest Wednesday, says there are now two events March 12 at Flint Hills Technical College — one at 2:30 pm, the other at 3:45 — to help.
Qureshi says there are a lot of supports locally and statewide that employees can access.
The Hopkins and ABZ Valve announcements mean around 175 workers have either lost their jobs or will before the middle of spring, but the focus here has been connecting with anybody and everybody areawide who is now looking for work.
In the Hopkins case, where 118 of the 130 employees lost their jobs the day of the announcement, the goal is to use a wide array of options to get workers the information they need.
Qureshi says work continues to develop a job fair before this month is out. A date and location has not been set.
Workers can go online to ksworkforceone.org or call 785-493-8018 with questions.
