Ray Kofke and three buddies piled into a Ford Escape early this morning and cruised out of Lee County, one of the hardest-hit parts of the state in this recession.

They drove more than two hours to another suffering region with a collective goal: getting jobs.

In Indiantown, they found lots of competition. More than 4,300 people flocked to the rural community for a chance to be among the 1,000 hires needed to build Florida Power & Light Co.’s new solar plant.

“I’ve been out of work seven months,” said Kofke, a 45-year-old pipe fitter and welder who lives in Lehigh Acres, a city devastated by the real estate bust.

He’s been granted an extension to his unemployment benefits, but he’s getting anxious about finding a job.

“Two years ago we were working steady,” said Carl Graff, a plumber who made the trip with Kofke. “Then it just stopped abruptly. Everybody’s going bankrupt.”

More than 4,300 people flocked to the rural community for a chance to be among the 1,000 hires needed to build Florida Power & Light Co.’s new solar plant. (Sarah Grile / The Post)

Kofke, Graff and the other hopefuls filled out applications under the shade of picnic pavilions at Timer Powers Park. At its peak at about 10 a.m., the line for applicants was about 1,500 to 2,000 people deep.

The contractor overseeing construction of the plant, Abilene, Texas-based Lauren Engineers and Constructors, plans to screen the forms in the coming weeks, then start hiring workers to help build the Martin Next Generation Solar Center about 8 miles west of Indiantown.

Some of the applicants showed up in shirts and ties. A few wore suits. Some pushed baby strollers and others donned cowboy hats.

“We had people from Maine and North Carolina here today,” said John Dinger, business services consultant at Workforce Solutions, the group hosting the job fair.

By 6:30 a.m. — 3 1/2 hours before the fair was scheduled to begin — about 350 people were already waiting at the park, Dinger said. In the ensuing hours, thousands of job-seekers clogged the roads into rural hamlet of 6,000.

“What we got today is what we thought we should have gotten in two days,” Dinger said this afternoon.

Today’s crush led him to print more 3,000 applications for the crowds expected at today’s fair.
The huge turnout is a testament to the condition of Florida’s economy. The state lost about 424,300 jobs between March 2008 and March 2009.

Moreover, in Martin County, the jobless rate was 10.1 percent in March. In Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, the rates were 9.9 and 12.8 percent, respectively.

When FPL’s 75 megawatt plant opens in 2010, it will be the second-largest solar plant in the world, according to the utility. It will use more than 180,000 mirrors to collect sunlight in troughs, making steam to power an existing gas-fired plant at the site.

But superlatives and green features weren’t what drew most applicants today.

“I’m looking for work desperately,” said Jerry Staley, a Port St. Lucie father of five who was laid off more than a year ago.

He has managed drug stores, installed doors — and he’s willing to do any job at the solar plant.

“Anything that they have to offer, I’m willing to put my heart in it,” the 47-year-old said.

Jay Schumacher showed up in a neatly pressed blue shirt to file his application. The 38-year-old Boynton Beach resident said he got laid off from Home Depot last year, but he’s held off on collecting unemployment.

“I thought, ‘I’ve got a bachelor’s degree. I should be able to get a job,’ ” he said.

Lauren Engineering hopes to hire a majority of workers from the local area, said Ryan Tavakoli, site human resources manager for the firm. But he cautioned that they won’t be needed all at once.

“It’s not 1,000 right off the bat,” he said. “You’ve got to ramp up.”

The job fair continues 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Timers Powers Park, 14100 S.W. Citrus Blvd., Indiantown.

Tags: FPL, Indiantown, jobs

This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Economy, Indiantown, Martin County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.