By Deanna B. Narveson, Mankato Free Press

WASECA — Hundreds were left jobless 10 days ago when the Quad Graphics printing plant in Waseca closed its doors, laying off all but a few staff to help with the company’s transition, but the Waseca Chamber of Commerce, the Waseca Economic Development Division and the South Central WorkForce Council are confident the community can rebound.

Quad Graphics, formerly Brown Printing, was an economic stalwart in town for a half-century before news of its year-end closure came last fall. To help employees find employment, the Chamber of Commerce organized a job fair in November that had more than 80 companies turn out.

The Chamber also added an online job-matching service to its website that will remain a permanent fixture, said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kim Foels. Businesses were offered one free job posting each to use the job-match service. The free postings helped boost users on the site, Foels said, but she doesn’t know exactly how many have taken advantage of it.   

“We don’t yet know how many employees have been able to find new work; they just closed barely a week ago,” Foels said. “But it’s a good time to find another job.”

Gary Sandholm, Waseca economic development coordinator, echoed Foels’ sentiment.

“I think quite a number have been able to get relocated,” Sandholm said. “With the demand of skilled labor in the area, they shouldn’t have great difficulty.” 

Late last year there were talks of a call center coming to the Waseca area that could have provided more than 100 jobs during the next several years, but Sandholm said the company decided on a different direction.

“It appears they are going to be moving out of Minnesota,” Sandholm said. In December, though, Quad Graphics Plant Director Randy Gordon said that prospective buyers have visited the now empty printing plant.

The South Central WorkForce Council, which serves the nine-county area, has been assisting Quad Graphics employees in the last several weeks as well. The organization has been helping workers with uploading resumes and job hunting, said Executive Director Diane Halvorson. 

With the current low unemployment rates, though, there could be much worse times to be job searching, Sandholm said.