Fair connects local manufacturers with job seekers

A number of organizations in Eden Prairie collaborated on a Make-It Manufacturing Career Fair held Tuesday, April 12, to connect job seekers with Eden Prairie-area manufacturers with job openings.

Thirteen local manufacturers participated in the three-hour event held in the Garden Room of the Eden Prairie City Center. Nearly all of them are located in Eden Prairie, including Danfoss Power Solutions, E.A. Sween, Anagram, MTS Systems, and Emerson.

Eden Prairie has the fourth-most manufacturing jobs among Minnesota cities, behind Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Bloomington. With Eden Prairie’s unemployment rate at a low 1.6 percent, many of these employers need workers to fill good-paying jobs.

At the same time, helping unemployed or under-employed residents is a strategic initiative of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation, which created a new group called the Unemployment Networking Group to help with this initiative. This group includes the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, the City of Eden Prairie, PROP, Metro South Adult Basic Education, MN Crossroads Career Network, Hennepin Technical College, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (MnDEED), and SouthWest Transit.

The group decided that one immediate need is to connect residents who might be seeking a job or job change with local manufacturers. That’s how the Make-It Manufacturing Career Fair idea was born.

“We know that some of our Eden Prairie residents are unemployed or under-employed, or driving to jobs clear across the Twin Cities,” said Foundation Executive Director Mark Weber. “If we can connect these folks with good-paying jobs in their own back yard, they’ll be close to work, commuting less, and able to spend more leisure time with their family or enjoying the community. Plus, we’ll be helping our local economy by filling some of the jobs that are currently open.”