ORLANDO, Fla.-For $130-million WestStar Credit Union, which serves gaming employees from three branches in Las Vegas and one in Reno, Nev., hosting job fairs in its two service areas the past three years has been rewarding in more ways than one.
The CU hosted its first job fair in Las Vegas in January 2011 and drew more than 1,000 attendees. An event in Reno later that year drew 2,000 and another in January 2012 drew a whopping 7,000.
Earlier this year, WestStar's 2013 event ran into a bit of misfortune in two other job fairs being scheduled on the same day. Still, 600 job-seekers met with representatives from 24 employer companies. On April 3, the third Reno Job Fair attracted 2,000 people who were greeted by 28 companies representing 1,000 career opportunities.
The idea won a Credit Union Journal Best Practice award. Now Mona Joseph, AVP of business development for WestStar and organizer of all six job fairs, will be at Credit Union Journal's Grow Show here, May 29-31, to share her experiences.
"I will be talking about how credit unions can make a huge difference in their communities for very little money," she said. "If the credit union has a good relationship with its SEGs, then there is no problem asking for donated space. Once the job fair has a location, everything else follows."
According to Joseph, the six job fairs drew approximately 18,000 people. All six saw local media coverage, print, radio and television. The total cost for the six job fairs? Less than $1,000.
The most recent Reno job fair saw BOB FM, a local radio station, do a live remote. Each time the station went to break it mentioned WestStar.
"We were mentioned three or four times each hour for three hours, plus the station put the job fair on its Facebook page," Joseph reported.
WestStar CEO Rick Schmidt said the job fairs have generated "massive" goodwill for the CU, deepened its relationship with many of its SEGs, and attracted additional SEGs.
Plus, he said, hosting job fairs is the "right thing" for WestStar to do.
"When I retire, my legacy is not going to be how many checking accounts we opened, it is going to be how many people we helped-and these job fairs help people," said Schmidt. "I have said we will keep hosting these for as long as they are needed."
Session: Two Unique Community Ideas
Speaker: Mona Joseph
Focus: WestStar Credit Union has drawn big crowds and created even bigger awareness with its Job Fairs.
What: CU Journal Grow Show
Where: Ritz Carlton, Orlando
When: May 29-31
