Benteler Steel/Tube will hold a job fair Saturday, Aug. 9, for its steel tube manufacturing facility under construction at the Port of Caddo-Bossier. The $975 million complex will ultimately employ about 675 people. Human resources manager Rhonda Simmons says this event is geared toward blue collar, hourly jobs, but there are some salaried positions that the company aims to fill.
“We are trying to employ as many local people as possible,” Simmons said, during an interview at Benteler’s construction site. “That is a critical thing for us to find as many people who will fit in our organization that are nearby and can support the local community.”
Benteler has established a training facility at Bossier Parish Community College. It replicates the equipment and processes at its manufacturing facility, which is slated to produce 300,000 metric tons of pipe each year for domestic customers.
Benteler project director Patrick Guillaume says the company doesn’t want to import experts from Germany to run the machinery. He stressed the goal to train up a local workforce, and that will mean workers take trips to Germany to meet their counterparts.
“That gives an opportunity to the people to create contacts with their German colleagues, and this is very important because through the training they always know that they have a contact in Germany,” Guillaume said. “In case they have a problem they always know they can give a call or send an email on an issue they are facing.”
The job fair will help tell Benteler’s story to prospective hires, according to Simmons, and people outside of Louisiana are encouraged to attend. The first wave of training will begin at the end of the month, and the company will have about 200 employees in Shreveport by the end of the year.
Saturday’s job fair is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bossier Parish Community College’s Health and Physical Education Center (Building One). Benteler job openings are posted at bentelerjobsinLA.com.
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