"Job fair postponed on concerns about crowds" by Casey Ross | May 30, 2009
A weekend job fair at a Dedham shopping center was postponed yesterday after organizers became concerned that a flood of job seekers would snarl traffic and create safety problems.
"The volume of expected attendees was much larger than we had initially anticipated," said David Fleming, marketing director for W/S Development, which was planning to host the job fair today at the new Legacy Place retail and entertainment complex. Fleming said his firm and Dedham officials became concerned when they started receiving a high volume of telephone calls about the event, which they did not advertise.
That is NOT a GOOD SIGN for the U.S. or Mass. economy -- and yet, we are being told the recession is over!
He said W/S Development is now searching for a different venue for the event, which will be rescheduled within the next few weeks. The event was expected to connect job seekers with 14 retailers that plan to hire hundreds of workers for stores opening in Legacy Place this summer. The retailers include Apple, City Sports, L.L. Bean, and Showcase Cinema De Lux.
Of course, we have "lost" TENS of THOUSANDS, but....
The high level of interest in the event drew parallels to a recent job fair in New Hampshire, where officials were overwhelmed with more than 10,000 attendees. They had initially expected 5,000.
Legacy Place, a 675,000-square-foot complex with restaurants, stores, a cinema, and other attractions, is scheduled to formally open Aug. 20., although L.L. Bean will begin operating July 24, Fleming said. Once fully open with 80 stores, the complex is expected to create about 1,500 jobs.
I guess it is not perfect, but it will help.
That's all we got now: mall jobs!
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