EDC’s quarterly popup market and job fair continue to grow
Special to the Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation is celebrating a successful second #ShopCove Quarterly Popup Market and #HireCove Job Fair.
This quarter’s event had a total of 47 registered vendors, including four young entrepreneurs, and two food trucks - Thai Law and Rissy’s Slappin Sips and Bangin Bites.
Upbeat music provided by local business Rainbow Heart Studio filled the building while over 200 people browsed, shopped, and chatted throughout the event.
Vendors had a wide variety of products on display. There were unique baked goods like protein cake pops from Healthy Hub and Ube cookies from PINASarap Cookies, fun drinks like boba from Griego’s Bobalicious Emporium and healthy smoothies from A Better Nutrition. There were numerous gift ideas, jewelry, home decor, clothes & accessories, bath & body products, art, and more.
Service based vendors were also present to give information on how to set up consultations or how to book services. These included businesses like Kitchen Tune Up with kitchen renovations and Lasting Memories with local dance classes.
The goal of the #ShopCove project is to create visibility for local small businesses, opportunities for them to operate, and to encourage the community to shop local.
Janet Schmitt of Shatzi’s Closet said, “[The EDC has] done exactly that and I sincerely appreciate the assistance and support [they] give small businesses. Without [their] team, we would not have this opportunity. I look forward to participating in many more pop up markets.”
The job fair section saw 13 companies represented for the event, which doubled last quarter’s job fair numbers.
Companies represented included The City of Copperas Cove, Central Texas College, Central Texas College Continuing Education, Pet Supplies Plus, T-Mobile, Randstad, Building Talent Foundation, Copperas Cove ISD, Party-N-Jump, First National Bank, AKIMA, Killeen Police Department, and InteLogix.
The goal of the #HireCove Job Fair is to help bridge the gap between local job seekers and hiring companies. This goal definitely saw progress this quarter. Several community members filled out applications and some even had on the spot interviews. The continued success of the job fair shows there is a need to assist job seekers and employers seeking workers in Copperas Cove.
Workforce Development Specialist Brittany Sanders and Executive Director Fred Welch are planning on facilitating a bigger job fair only event in the future.
The next #ShopCove Quarterly Popup Market will be November 25, 2023 for Small Business Saturday.
The next #HireCove Job Fair will tentatively be in early 2024.
For event updates, please follow Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CopperasCoveEDC