Odessa to pitch to vets

If some Odessa representatives have their way, the city could soon be invaded by soldiers.

The Odessa Chamber of Commerce, City of Odessa, the Permian Basin Workforce Board and Flint Hills Resources will be visiting two job fairs at military bases - Fort Hood in Killeen on Wednesday and Fort Bliss in El Paso on March 22.

They're looking to convince soldiers preparing to leave the U.S. Army to make the Permian Basin their home.

"My job is basically to show this is a good place to live and there are good solid jobs," said Arleene Loyd, the chamber's director of business retention and expansion. "Our economy is booming."

These are the first major job fairs Loyd has participated in - not counting a Green Collar Veterans event Loyd recently attended in Sweetwater. Loyd said that event was "limited."

But with up to 2,000 soldiers expected at Fort Hood, Loyd is looking for more success. She said about 47 percent of soldiers leaving the military are looking to move somewhere other than where they're based.

She said the military offers more high-end, skilled workers for manufacturing and industrial jobs than could be found elsewhere.

Randy Stovall, transition services manager for the Army Career and Alumni Program at Fort Bliss, said the base has held about two job fairs a year since 1991. Typically, it attracts between 750 and 1,000 military members, but civilians are also welcome.

"It gives them an opportunity to expose themselves to the civilian workforce, which they haven't been exposed to in their service years," Stovall said. "Our job is to ensure that the soldiers are ready to present themselves to the civilian world."

Stovall said 96 employers from all over the United States and beyond are expected to be taking resumes from soldiers.

The City of Odessa plans to send police officers, utility workers and dispatchers to recruit to areas particularly understaffed, said Don Byrne, the city's human resources director.

This will be the first military job fair for the city, Byrne said.

"They have people ready across the board, in all specialties," Byrne said of the military. "That's interesting to us in getting people with experience."