FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Hailey Cason is on the lookout for people to hire for Alliance Laundry Systems in Ripon.
Cason, a talent acquisition specialist with the company, said recent hires have included people who were laid off at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac.
“Experience. Union experience. Talent. Grit. Hard work,” she said. “The ability to work the four, 10-hour shifts. You name it and they have it.”
Alliance was one of more than 60 businesses at a Fox Valley Workforce Development Board job fair Wednesday.
The event was set up specifically to help people who lost jobs at several regional employers, including Mercury Marine.
“Alliance is a very fast-paced manufacturing company. The nice thing about Merc is they are also a very fast-paced manufacturing company,” Cason said. “With this happening to them, they’re going to be able to transition to a home where it’s the same thing for them.”
Spectrum News 1 spoke with a half dozen Mercury Marine employees involved in the June layoff who were taking advantage of the job fair.
Though none wanted to share their stories for publication, a number said they’re optimistic about what their employment future holds.
Bobbi Miller is the business solutions manager with the Workforce Development Board.
“I can’t dismiss the fact it’s hard for a company to make a decision to lay off workers, especially in this labor market,” she said. “They have struggled really hard to find these employees and to have to let them go is incredibly difficult right now.”
There have been a number of other focused job fairs in the Fox Valley in recent months for displaced workers.
“Our community has been absorbing those layoffs very efficiently,” Miller said. “Unemployment hasn’t really gone up. We see people transition to new opportunities.”
Tony Glugla is working with some of the laidoff Mercury Marine employees who are military veterans through the Military and Community Resource Network.
He said some are choosing retirement, while others are looking ahead to what’s next.
“They’re coming to us proactively,” he said. “Building resumes, doing the networking with the other organizations, the companies, and getting to know what is actually expected in the workforce now as far as resumes and whatnot.”
Cason said she is hopeful those looking for job opportunities know there are other career options available.
“I just feel so bad for the employees who are going through this. They’ve put time in with the company and they’re getting displaced,” she said. “I want to be here to help place those people. Scoop them up into a home and make things easier for them.”