Print edition: 
There are hints that the local job market is coming back, but only hints, judging by the exhibitors at the Career Expo on Tuesday at Century II. There were only a few manufacturers among the colleges and nonprofit groups and companies seeking salesmen.
Q Corp. of Derby makes several categories of products, including custom-designed automation and robotics for manufacturers.
There's been plenty of new business, said president Ben Swigart. Many manufacturers are buying automation equipment because they have the money, but not the confidence in the future to hire more workers. So, he said, they are buying equipment that they know will save them money in the long run.
Swigart is looking for a mechanical engineer, a sales manager and a CNC machinist. The company is sold out for six months. If it can hire those three, it will cut that to three months, he said.
He wasn't seeing people who matched the exact skills needed, but there was no shortage of people anxious to learn those skills.
"I have to say, everybody's been eager," he said. "They're motivated."
That includes Curtis Northop of Towanda, who said he has been out of work for nearly two years and was filling out an application for a technology job at Fidelity Bank.
He worked in computers for 35 years, he said, most recently for Computer Specialists as a contractor at one of the aircraft plants.
The day after he got laid off, he said, he started to build his resume. He also went back to school for a degree in electronic technology.
The result: virtually nothing. The one job offer he got was out of town — and he has to stay in the area for his family.
His savings are long gone, he said. Two weeks ago, his unemployment insurance ran out.
"I'm 54 years old, and I'm living with my dad," he said.
