Lockheed Martin Employees Attend Special Job Fair

Lockheed Martin employees who have lost their job, will be losing their job or have decided not to transfer out of Minnesota attended a job fair specifically designated for them at the Friday.

According to several businesses at the job fair, hundreds of people filed in and out of the community center's gym, handed out resumes, visited and met with prospective employers, and interacted with their co-workers.

"It was a great turn-out," said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Metro Business Services Manager Terrell Towers. "It was gratifying to hear them [former and current Lockheed Martin employees] say that it was a great event and that they were able to talk to the businesses they wanted to talk with."

The job fair was done at the request of Lockheed Martin. The City of Eagan and Dakota County were also both interested and partnered with DEED to ensure the job fair would be a success.

"We did no recruiting," said Towers. "The businesses present had indicated interest to Lockheed Martin, and Lockheed Martin provided the majority of the business and contact names [to us]."

Although most businesses were local, there were many that were from out of state as well.

"We didn't discriminate," Towers said. "It was really an opportunity for potential employers to speak with highly skilled individuals."

"[The job fair] really appeared to be 50/50 between local and [out-of-state] companies," Jason Manka, a Lockheed Martin systems engineer, said. "I expected more local positions...it seemed a lot of companies wanted you to transfer."

Many Lockheed Martin employees stated they were impressed with the job fair and that although most were looking for jobs in their same line of work, they were also open to new opportunities and career changes.

"It looks like there seems to be a lot of opportunities and possibilities," said Manka, whose employment with Lockheed Martin will terminate in 2012.

Astronautics Corporation of America, located in Milwaukee, Wisc., was one of the many companies at the job fair. Director of Systems Engineering Dr. Steven L. Russek said while visiting with prospective employees he learned, "a lot of folks want to stay in Minnesota."

"I was able to educate them about Milwaukee, and explain that like Minnesota, it is a great place to raise kids [and so on]," Russek said. "Our needs and the needs of Lockheed Martin really overlap, and we hope folks will consider what we have to offer."

Deb Langenfeld, who has been a Lockheed Martin employee for 34 years and currently serves as a Lockheed Martin supply chain management employee, said she enjoyed the job fair, but wished it had a wider range of positions other than engineering jobs.

"Companies were mostly looking for engineers and I'm looking more for logistics," Langenfeld said.

She also stated that she's open to retraining and taking a new direction in her career.

"Things happen for a reason. Maybe it's time for a change," Langenfeld said.

"I've got two years," said Lockheed Martin employee Steve Murphy. "I'm going to wait and see. I was [just] checking out the options...seeing what jobs are available and seeing who's hiring, but I'm not actively searching."

"I don't want to move," Murphy added. "I have my roots here and a lot of [my] co-workers are in the same place."

Towers described the circumstances with Lockheed Martin's departure as an "unusual" situation, and said DEED has helped Borders and Ultimate Electronics employees, however, those number of employees were not as staggering or at the level of Lockheed Martin's.

Concerning the job fair, Lockheed Martin issued this statement, "While Lockheed Martin hopes to retain as many employees as possible, we also are committed to helping those who will be staying in Minnesota. We sincerely thank the State and the City of Eagan for the tremendous support and opportunity they have provided to our employees with this job fair."

To see a list of companies at the job fair, see the attached PDF document.

Also, there will be a job fair open to the public on March 24 from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Eagan Civic Arena. The job fair will be put together by the Minnesota WorkForce Centers of Dakota and Scott counties and it will be for anyone actively seeking employment. For more information visit: www.positivelyminnesota.com/getjobsjobfair