Lost your job from failed power project? This SC agency will interview you on the spot

A state agency is hoping to attract some of the thousands who lost their jobs at the now-scuttled nuclear power project.

During today’s first “Employ SC” fair in Chapin, the S.C. Department of Corrections will not only be taking applications; the state agency will be conducting interviews on site. Applicants who clear the rest of the process could start working as early as Aug. 21, which is next Monday.

Agency director Bryan Stirling said it’s a “great opportunity for people looking to be hired quickly.”

Future hires could also be eligible for referral bonuses once they start, Stirling said. For everyone they refer, they get $500 up to $3,000.

SCDC has already hired its first staffer laid off when SCE&G and state-owned Santee Cooper abandoned its $14 billion project to build two new nuclear reactors at its V.C. Summer power plant in Jenkinsville on July 31.

Today’s job fair is part of Gov. Henry McMaster’s “rapid response coalition” to help those workers. In addition to SCDC, more than a dozen state agencies, as well as Michelin, Duke Energy, Georgia Pacific and United Infrastructure Group, will attend the fair.

McMaster also is expected to attend today’s job fair, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies, 916 Mount Vernon Road. A second job fair Wednesday is co-hosted by the city of Columbia.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 7:22 AM with the headline "Lost your job from failed power project? This SC agency will interview you on the spot."