Job Fair to Address Effects of Growing Foreclosure Home Listings
They came in droves, lining up the whole day, sweating and hoping that they will be among the lucky 550 people that the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America (NACA) will initially hire as part of its planned mass hiring in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The growing number of properties in foreclosure home listings and the massive layoffs at several financial firms, including Bank of America and Wachovia, has driven NACA, a homeownership organization and community advocacy, to expand to Charlotte.
The organization plans to hire 1,014 for various positions such as customer service representatives, mortgage underwriters, negotiators and counselors. The non-profit will initially hire 550 people and the remaining numbers within five years.
Helping homeowners affected by the growing foreclosure home listings has become a booming business that prompted Boston, Massachusetts-based NACA to expand to Charlotte which was lately battered by massive job layoffs, particularly in the financial sector.
Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that insurance and finance jobs in the metro area in April was 55,2000, a decline of 100 from the March level and 3,900 from the December 2008 total.
NACA Chief Executive Officer Bruce Marks said that the non-profit plans to invest about $4 million for its expansion in Charlotte. The jobs required by NACA will have hourly wages ranging from $12 to $18, or $35,982 average annual salary.
NACA is receiving about $1 million grant to help borrowers get home loans at affordable rates and assist those who cannot afford the mortgages they received from lending institution. It conducts “Save the Dream” loan modification events across the country in which counselors help distressed borrowers reduce their loan principal and interest rates to save their homes from foreclosure home listings.
The funding for NACA is provided by One North Carolina Fund, an organization that provides financial assistance to create new jobs. Companies and organizations that receive grants must meet requirements for job creation.
Meanwhile, vice president of Charlotte Chamber’s economic and European development Justin Hunt said that NACA may become a recipient of job training funds from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Consortium.
The next NACA job fair is scheduled in Atlanta, Georgia on July 10 to 14. Newly hired employees will be part of the NACA team that travels to various cities to help homeowners affected by the growing foreclosure home listings.
