Chattanooga's biggest Zaxby's franchise operator wants to hire 150 more employees for its eight area restaurants and other Zaxby's locations planned for the market in 2017.

JSB Holdings and Development, the local Zaxby's franchisee, started in 1999 by Shannon and Julie Brown in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., is holding a job fair Tuesday at eight locations to hire more restaurant workers and managers.

Avalee Delay, marketing director for the Chattanooga area Zaxby's, said the new employees will help the growing franchise staff both existing and new restaurant locations in the Chattanooga area.

"With a new store opening in early 2017, and plans to open new Zaxby's stores throughout the coming years, we need to staff appropriately," she said. "Although we're hiring these new employees during the holiday season, these are not seasonal or temporary positions. These are permanent positions."

Zaxby's spokeswoman Laura McKenna said the area Zaxby restaurants will take applications from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at area stores from persons interested in crew member and manager positions.

Applicants should bring a photo ID and a resume to the event. For those unable to attend, apply online at jsbhd.com/careers.shtml.

"We start our cooks and cashiers with no previous experience at $8 an hour," DeLay said. "We also offer immediate opportunities to give yourself a raise through online learning modules once you've joined the team."

Interviews to be held Tuesday afternoon at eight Zaxby's in Chattanooga:

- 7643 East Brainerd Road in Chattanooga

- 4815 Highway 58 in Chattanooga

- 623 Signal Mountain Road in Chattanooga

- 2541 Battlefield Parkway in Fort Oglethorpe

- 8884 Old Lee Highway in Ooltewah

- 6456 Alabama Highway in Ringgold, Ga.

- 9347 Springfield Road in Soddy-Daisy

- 300 Able Drive in Dayton, Tenn.

JSB Holdings is the largest franchisee for Zaxby's in Chattanooga.

The Athens, Ga.-based chicken-oriented restaurant chain was started by childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley in 1990 and now includes more than 800 locations in 17 states.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.