The 400 people who attended a jobs fair in Burns Lake on Friday had plenty of employment opportunities to choose from, B.C. Jobs Minister Pat Bell said during a conference call later that day.
The 25 companies who showed up and "by our count, there were 1,307 jobs available," Bell said.
Labouring-level jobs were "by far and away the single largest chunk" although there were skilled trades and management positions available as well, Bell continued.
The fair was held three weeks after the community's largest employer, the Babine Forest Products was leveled in an explosion and fire that left two workers at the sawmill dead and 250 without jobs.
Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad said the fair was "far more successful than we had originally anticipated."
Most of the jobs are in locations within an hour drive of Burns Lake. Bell said the government will try and find funding methods to help workers with transportation costs.
Closer to home, Bell said funding is also available for "fuel mitigation" work - clearing brush and dead trees that pose a wildfire hazard - and there is a keen interest in developing a tourism strategy and to remediate two old gas station sites so they can be developed.
Government officials are about six to eight weeks away from completing an inventory of fibre in the region as part of determining whether the sawmill can be rebuilt.
"We need to include the fact that there are other sawmills that are dependent on this fibre," Bell said. "It doesn't make sense to rebuild one mill and have other mills close as a result of it."
On Friday, Sheraton Holdings Ltd. said it will resume sawmilling operations at its facility east of the community of 3,600 people, 226 kilometres west of Prince George, next month providing jobs for seven and nine full-time positions. It had been closed for more than a year due to poor market conditions.
Support has been coming through in other ways.
Sandy Dore, one of the Burns Lake Rotary Club members who've helped to set up the Lakes District Tragedy Relief Fund did not have a total figure for amounts raised, so far but said donations of food and money are pouring in.
"It's just been amazing, people have been wonderful," Dore said.
Among the latest donations, three pickup loads of food from Fraser Lake were dropped off at the community's food bank, unionized workers at the Northwood Pulp Mill voted this week to donate $30,000 to the Fund.
"When you see something like this, it kind of strikes home," said Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Local 603 president Dwaine Patterson, who added Canfor Pulp
The Fund is in the process of becoming a registered society. An annual general meeting will be held Wednesday to get an executive in place and to establish a criteria for using the funds.
Dore said they've consulted with the Red Cross and were advised to think long term.
"Eight to 10 to 12 months down the road, there is probably going to be a bigger hit at that point," Dore said.
