The University of Guam Calvo Field House welcomed more than 35 employers Wednesday for a job fair that took place over the course of five hours.

The career development office's Sallie L.T. McDonald, who has run the fair since 2014, said she was happy with the steady flow of traffic and how smooth things had gone as noon approached.

"We're very happy with everyone that is here and we hope they have good results, whether it be full-time, part-time employment or internships," McDonald said.

Especially making her pleased and proud were the new companies in attendance, Moylan's Insurance and Galaide Professional Services, and the few that had come in from off island.

One in particular, Cloverdale Foods Co. from Mandan, North Dakota, near Bismarck, had people waiting in line looking to talk to Scott Staudinger.

The company's vice president of human resources was attending his fourth job fair on island in eight days, and was still hard at work having people fill out applications.

Making his first visit a few months ago, he had already twice made the three-flight, 27-hour, 7,000-mile trip. That's because the 103-year-old, family-owned company had already brought 28 employees from Guam to North Dakota, and now wishes to bring an additional 30 to 40 people to the state by the start of summer.

"Guam has always been on the radar," Staudinger said. "It just took me awhile to have the bandwidth to get here."

He said positions start at $12 an hour and that the cost of living is much lower compared to the island.

Shift from Puerto Rico

Staudinger also said Cloverdale used to recruit heavily in Puerto Rico, but recruitment in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria has been more difficult.

"I went down there two months ago and we're talking seven months later and they still don't have power, they still don't have water," he said.

When asked why the company set its sights on Guam, Staudinger said a strong Air Force presence and National Guard in North Dakota, and the fact it was predominantly Roman Catholic, were among the reasons it made sense. He also cited Cloverdale now being on its fifth generation of president and CEO coming from the same family, and the company wants workers with similar values.

"We look for a place that has a strong, moral, ethic background whose people have honor, integrity and a hard work ethic," he said. "Guamamians are perfect for it."

In selling North Dakota, what he referred to as the "dead-center middle of North America," Staudinger mentioned the abundance of jobs available in the five-county area surrounding Mandan, and also cited an abundance of oil- and coal-related opportunities and farming jobs available in the state. He claimed the cold winter weather wasn't a deterrent for Guam recruits.

"We brought that first group (of Guamanians) and the next day we got 2 feet of snow and they thought it was awesome," he said. "They were doing snow angels in it."

Jobs closer to home

For those not wanting to leave Guam for work, representatives from job-seeker services and the U.S. Department of Labor-supported website Hireguam.com were present touting its unique abilities to have people self-register or actually speak with a real person and case worker.

"The difference between us and other websites is job seekers are able to get feedback," said Tilda Meno. "If they are following up with an application or referral, we're able to say the employer hasn't reviewed it yet."

Vanessa Rivera said jobs were to be had, too.

"We're picking up a lot," she said. "There's a lot of local jobs, hotel jobs, construction jobs – especially with the military buildup."

Meno and Rivera encouraged potential workers to visit the American Job Center to see what was available or to seek assistance from staff.

"We can help them register and prepare their resume and job search, or they are welcome to do web services and just log on and manage their account," Rivera said.

Regarding foreign labor, she also said local workers have a right to be hired before foreign labor could be brought in.

"If they have U.S. qualified workers, they have to hire them first," Rivera said.