Cypress employers get creative with job options, and educational opportunities for students

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- As ABC13 Localish highlights Cypress, we're offering neighbors a way to find a job or educational opportunities.

We've partnered with Workforce Solutions to connect employers with candidates. One way was an in-person job fair at the agency's location in Willowbrook last week.

While there, candidates met with a handful of employers offering a variety of jobs from $20 an hour, encouraging people to vote.

"They'll be knocking on doors asking everyone if they've voted," Texas Tool Belt apprenticeship ambassador, Ebony Jackson, explained. "Getting them the opportunity to vote. Showing them the new voting polls."

Another is to get people to work in one of the state's biggest school districts, Cy-Fair ISD.

"Cy-Fair is where you want to be," Cy-Fair ISD's human resources assistant director, Gregory Lozano, explained. "With the opportunities that are available. With the support we give you."

The jobs may be different, but the struggles are the same. Right now, employers have positions, but they've been hard to fill across the country. Cy-Fair ISD raised starting teacher pay, but it still has a teacher shortage.

"Years ago, we would attend job fairs where we would have upwards of 100 employers, but you'd have upwards of 350 applicants. To where now, we're attending job fairs with anyone from 50 to 100 applicants available," Lozano said.

Texas Tool Belt's election position requires people to drive around. With high gas prices, it had to lure new workers with a $20 gas gift card.

"It's every time they go out," Jackson said.

If you're looking for work in the Cypress area, recruiters say new employers are constantly reaching out, and it's with a variety of industries.

"In the Cypress area, we're seeing a lot of medical fields," Workforce Solutions manager, Michelle Westlake, explained. "A lot of medical occupations. A lot of retail. A lot of food service and hospitality."

If you're looking for work in Cypress, or anywhere else in southeast Texas, join our virtual job fair wherever you stream ABC13 at 10 a.m. each Thursday. You can call our viewer hotline at 713-243-6663 or visit Workforce Solution's website, and look for the "as seen on TV" section.

There are education opportunities too.

Houston Community College opened a new campus not too far from Cypress in Katy.

"We opened and had summer school here at the new Katy campus," HCC Northwest Campus president, Dr. Zachary Hodges, said. "Now, we're into our fall semester."

The school works with local industries to develop courses and programs with jobs available in the area.

"We're finding there's a huge ESL opportunity here," Hodges explained. "We already responded with classes, and all you have to do is come in the front door and be at the level you need to be."

Classes have started, but it's not too late. You can still register for classes by next month.

"If you're running late, a month from now we'll have our second start," Hodges said. "You'll still finish at the regular time."

With the height of hurricane season approaching, HCC is also offering a new course for business owners. It's located at HCC's new Resiliency Center of Excellence.

The course will educate business owners about how to handle natural disasters, including hurricanes and flooding, not just from the storms themselves, but navigating the supply chain issues that come with them.

Courses can be taught at school, or virtually. Many of the classes come with no cost either because they're federally funded. For more information email, hccs.edu/cctrain@hccs.edu.

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