Verizon Communication a leader in delivering broadband and wireline and wireless communication innovations has 1,288 open jobs to fill listed on their website as of today.  The company headquartered in New York generated $88 billion in revenue last year from 63.7M customers.  Its diverse workforce of nearly 242,000 people continues to grow as the company generates innovative products that allow them to expand their market share and grow their presence into new markets.  In 2006, people of color made up approximately 45% of the company’s workforce and 38% of the management team.

The company has won the following employer awards:

• Business Week named Verizon “One of the Best Places to Launch a Career”
• Working Mother named Verizon ” 100 Best Companies”
• Black Enterprise named Verizon as one of the “40 Best Companies for Diversity”
• Latina Style named Verizon as one of the country’s top 50 employers for Hispanic Women

Sampling of the open jobs as of January 22, 2008:

1. Account Manager/Senior Account Manager
2. Accounting
3. Accounting Manager
4. Administrative Assistant
5. Apprentice Telecom Technician
6. Application Developer
7. Assistant General Counsel
8. Audit
9. Avaya Technical Specialist
10. Benefits Specialist
11. Billing Analyst
12. Business Solutions Consultant
13. Business Analyst
14. Call Center Manager
15. Channel Manager
16. Cisco Network Engineer
17. Client Account Manager 
18. Client Executive
19. Client Service Manager
20. Conference Coordinator
21. Conference Sales Manager
22. Contracts Attorney
23. Corporate Account Manager
24. CPE Sales
25. CPE Specialist
26. Director, Real Estate
27. Director, Sales
28. Director, Security
29. Employee Communications
30. Engineers ( IP, LAN, International, Network)
31. Executive Assistant
32. External Affairs
33. Facility and Construction Engineer
34. Federal Sales Director
35. Financial Analyst
36. Government Sales
37. Health and Wellness Coordinator
38. Help Desk Analyst
39. Implementation Manager
40. Incident Problem Manager 
41. Inside Account Manager
42. Installation Technician
43. Interns, Student
44. Manager, Business Operations Support
45. Manager, Product Management
46. Manager, Sourcing (Purchasing) 
47. Manager, Tax
48. Marketing
49. Marketing Communications
50. Network Administrator
51. Pricing Analyst 
52. Project Managers
53. Product Development Managers
54. Program Managers
55. Relay Operators
56. Regional Sales Manager
57. Sales Engineer 
58. Sales Managers
59. Sales Support
60. Security Analyst
61. Security Engineer
62. Telecom Technician

The Mason City Council approved steps to hire two more officers to the existing police department of 41 officers.  The two new officers would allow the police department to have four officers on day on each shift.

W.W. Grainger a diversified wholesaler headquartered in Lake Forest, IL has 296 open positions posted on their website.  Grainger is a Fortune 500 company with $5.9B in annual sales and over 17,000 employees.  The company is a perennial member of Fortune Magazine’s Most Admired Companies list. 

Additional best employer awards earned by W.W. Grainger are:

1. No. 6   - The 50 Best Companies to Sell For - Selling Power
2. No 16. - The Top 25 Military Friendly Employers - G.I. Jobs Magazine
3. Top 25 Companies to Work For in Chicago - Chicago Magazine
4. No. 78 - The 100 Best Companies to Work for in IT - IT Magazine
5. 100 Best Corporate Citizen of 2007

The company had a record breaking year in 2007 and celebrated their success at their annual National Sales and Service Meeting held in Orlando, FL last week.  The event hosted thousands of Grainger employees from its service and sales areas.  The celebration include an inspirational talk from Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, comedians,the Bethune Cookman College marching band, visits by celebrity guests William” The Refrigerator” Perry and NASCAR’s Matt Kenseth and rounding the celebration off by closing Disney’s Magic Kingdom for an evening of just Grainger employees.  This company knows how to work and play hard.

 Here are areas within the Grainger with open jobs as of 1/14/08:

1. Accounting (3)
2. Clerical/Administrative (2)
3. Civil Service/Government (1)
4. Communications (2)
5. Computer (1)
6. Customer Service (83)
7. Engineering (2)
8. Finance (18)
9. Financial Services (3)
10. Human Resources (5)
11. Internet/New Media (2)
12. Management (13)
13. Marketing (7)
14. Publishing (2)
15. Purchasing (7)
16. Real Estate (1)
17. Retail/Merchandising (1)
18. Sales (93)
19. Technology (8)
20. Training (1)
21. Warehouse (43)

Cedar Point is already starting to hire its spring and summer work force to operate its roller coasters, games and food stands.  The amusement park in Sandusky says it has more than 4,000 jobs to fill.  Pay starts at $7 per hour.  Summer seasons scheduled to open May 10th.

Now that Cedar Fairs, owner of Cedar Points, now owns Cedar King’s Island formerly Paramount King’s Island, there are another 4,000 jobs that must be filled at the amusement park in Cincinnati. 

Apply online at www.cedarpoint.com or http://www2.cedarfair.com/kingsisland/index.cfm#actions

Value City Department Stores will cease operations on or before the end of March, 2008 at up to 24 Value City Stores.  Workers at these locations are being laid off with no offer of being rehired as part of the deal with Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation  to assign or sublease these 24 Value City Store locations.

Each of the closing stores will take between 8 to 10 months to renovate the facility, revamp the staff and operations to fit with the Burlington Coat Factory model.  Value City Stores has operations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia,  and in Mid-Atlantic States.

Thompson Plumbing, Heating and Cooling has immediate openings for 5 outbound call center agents.  The firm started over 70 years ago is pillar among Cincinnati employers. Contact Susan, Hiring Manager at (513) 333-Help to learn more about these positions.

Spoke to two hiring managers who indicated their firms would be looking to add staff early this year.  The Cincinnati office of the Better Business Bureau and the Benefits Network located in Blue Ash.  Contact Phil DiCiero, the hiring manager, to learn more about the Account Manager/Sales Executives positions available at the Benefits Network.

Convergys Corp is continuing its U.S. call center expansion by opening its latest location in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The call center is expect to employ 500.  The company will also open call centers in Longview, TX and one in Cincinnati meto off I-275 in Erlanger later this year. 

Convergys provides customer care, human resources and billing services worldwide. Contact Convergys Corp directly to learn more about the timeline for the opening of these call centers.