Business Leaders, Job Seekers Come Together at Annual ‘Talent Summit’

ST. CLOUD - Over 500 business leaders and job seekers are spending the day together Thursday at the annual Greater St. Cloud Talent Summit.

Judy Zimmer is hosting the event for the third year in a row. She says there are good jobs to be had, you just have to know where to look.

Every employer that I talked to this morning said 'we have job openings, we're struggling to find good people'. And so the message is really - job seekers there are jobs out there, let's get you meeting more of those people.

Zimmer says the business leaders at the Talent Summit are sharing best practices with each other on ways to attract and retain top quality workers.  She says for people looking to make a job change it's important to ask about the extra "perks" that come with the job.

Things like paying for volunteer time off. These are the things that most people don't think to ask about. Like what else comes with the work culture and the brand of a company.

Some of today's workshop sessions include: employer engagement in our high schools, addressing the training gap, and keeping talent local.

Part of Thursday's event also includes a career fair which is free and open to everyone. It runs until 6:00 p.m. at the River's Edge Convention Center in downtown St. Cloud.