It was announced last week that North Carolina-based sporting goods company Big Rock Sports will be the newest tenant at the Richmond County Industrial Park.
The company is expected to hire between 100 and 150 employees for its newest distribution center with an average wage of $12.22 an hour - but there’s a catch.
Qualified applicants must have a WorkKeys certification to be considered.
“We’ve had a large number of clients coming in and inquiring about the positions, but they have to show us the WorkKeys certificate before we can take the application,” said Employment Security Commission Local Office Manager Judy Carpenter. “We’ve still taken over 100 applications.”
“We do require a high school diploma or a GED and the WorkKeys certification from the community college,” said Big Rock Sports Human Resources Manager Adrienne Harris.
She said the first workers will be on-site sometime in mid-May, but it is still uncertain how many workers that will be.
“We’re still playing with numbers, and it’s going to depend on how quickly we get up and running,” Harris said. “We’re starting out slow, and it’s hard to say what the final numbers will be. It’s a big facility to fully staff.”
The 310,000 square-foot facility in Richmond County Industrial Park is more than 110,000 square feet larger than the local Wal-Mart building. Richmond County Economic Development Director Rick Sago says it can be expanded to 500,000 square-feet if needed.
“We’re happy with the response, and we expect the job fair to be well-attended,” Harris said. “What we would like is for people to come to the job fair to learn more information about our company in general, and that includes what we do and what types of benefits we offer, and talk to the staff of the employment office to see if they meet the required qualifications.”
Harris also wished to remind people they may not apply at the company’s new facility, they must report to the Employment Security Commission to be considered for employment.
WorkKeys testing is available through Richmond Community College every week on the Richmond and Scotland County campuses.
In Richmond County, testing is held every other Thursday in the DeWitt Building on the campus of RCC at 9 a.m., and for the month of May, testing is also being held every Tuesday in the Lee Building at 8:45 a.m.
In Scotland County, testing is held every Friday at 8:45 a.m. at the Scotland Center, and every other Wednesday at 12 p.m.
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