Politics & Government
Thousands Crowd Atlanta Tech Job Fair
More than 3000 stood in 90-degree heat Thursday at a major job fair hosted the Congressional Black Caucus.
Thousands of job seekers stood in line for hours Thursday for a chance at employment at the Congressional Black Caucus Jobs Fair at Atlanta Technical College.
According to event organizers, more than 3,000 came out for the event, some as early as 5:30 a.m., although official registration did not begin until 8:00 a.m.
According to E. Brandon Garrett, Policy Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, 97 companies with job openings participated.
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Emergency crews responded to several calls for heat-related illness until school officials opened an overflow room and let everyone inside between 2:30 and 3 p.m., according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"A total of nine people were treated, and seven were transported" to Grady Memorial and Emory Crawford Long hospitals, according to Capt. Jolyon Bundrige of Atlanta Fire Rescue. "Several did lose consciousness at some point."
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Those who were able to stay until the end of the jobs fair were greeted by eight members of the Congressional Black Caucus in a town hall meeting. Congressman_Hank Johnson (D-GA) and John Lewis (D-GA) hosted the event and emphasized the purpose was to show the enormous demand for jobs to the country and the world.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) said that "America needs to stop taking the jobs overseas and bring the jobs back home."
"We should not be scared to confront the White House when things are not going well for our people," Waters said. "We all should be willing to stand up for what is right. It is our civic duty."
Donna Christensen (D-VI), Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, emphasized that the Health Care Reform Bill is needed because it creates jobs.
"Medicaid and Medicare are needed to create healthcare jobs," Christensen said.
She congratulated Atlanta Area Tech President Dr. Alvetta Thomas for her leadership and the staff for their training of people within the healthcare field. "Continued funding is needed to keep these type of programs alive" she said.
Other Congress members that participated at the event included: Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-GA), Al Green (D-TX), Laura Richardson (D-CA) , Cedric Richmond (D-LA).
Dekalb County CEO Burrell Ellis; Atlanta City Council President, Ceasar Mitchell, and State Representative Ralph Long III also attended the town hall meeting.