Northeast Tennessee Hiring Expo draws crowd

KINGSPORT — Hundreds of job seekers piled into MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort Thursday for the Northeast Tennessee Hiring Expo. The annual, regional event was hosted this year by NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership, the Kingsport Economic Development Board and the Bristol Industrial Development Board. Clay Walker, NETWORKS CEO said by end of day Thursday around 500 people stopped by the expo with nearly 90 participating employers. He said among those employers, over 1,000 open jobs were available. "I think what makes this hiring expo unique from a lot of job fairs, is right in the very first one in 2016, we wanted to get companies that had open positions, not just put resumes in files," Walker said. "And it was a hit, right from the get go. Of course, COVID hit, and it kind of derailed so many things, but now we've been back for a couple of years." He said despite NETWORKS primarily serving Sullivan and Hawkins counties, the expo broadened its reach to include companies from across the region. The expo website listed participating employers ranging from city of Bristol and Tennessee positions to healthcare. "We have all kinds of operations from manufacturing plants," Walker mentioned. "We have many medical groups looking for clinical, technical jobs here. We have people in accounting and marketing as well as general labor jobs. So whatever you do, chances are there's something here for you." He said Thursday marked the first time the event has been held in Kingsport and the biggest group of participating employers. "I guarantee you, people are going to change their lives today, and we're and that's just very humbling and very exciting that we get to be a part of that," Walker said. For more information about the event, visit https://netnhiringexpo.com/.