Phil Castle, The Business Times

More than 100 employers — each of them hiring for open positions — are expected to participate in an upcoming job fair.

That affords a good opportunity for job hunters to find what they’ve been searching for, said Tabi Britt, employment services supervisor at the Mesa County Workforce Center in Grand Junction.

But the Grand Valley Job Fair also affords an opportunity for employers to tap into what’s becoming a deeper labor pool, Britt said.

The Mesa County Workforce Center will join with Colorado Mesa University to stage the Grand Valley Job Fair. The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 3 at Lincoln Park, located near the intersection of 12th Street and Gunnison Avenue in Grand Junction.

To register for or obtain information about the fair, visit the website at www.mesacounty.us/wfc/grandvalleyjobfair.

A boot camp of sorts is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon March 26 at the workforce center at 512 29 1/2 Road to help people prepare for the job fair, Britt said. Human resource professionals with local employers will offer assistance with resumes, job interviewing skills and networking.

The employment services team from the workforce center also will be at the job fair to assist participants and answer questions, Britt said.

Food trucks will be parked at the fair to serve meals and beverages.

Britt said she expects more than 100 employers to participate in the job fair, all of them hiring for open positions. Those employers will come from a range of industry sectors. “We’ve got a wide variety.”

While the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate spiked in January in Mesa County at 4.5 percent, that seasonal increase usually precedes a downward trend in the jobless rate.

Britt said labor demand remains strong and employers in some sectors continue to report difficulty in filling job openings.

But there’s also been in an increase in the number of people looking for work, she said. “I think there’s an opportunity out there now.”