MOSES LAKE - Job seekers will have the chance to talk to prospective employers at the Fall Hiring Event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 17, at Big Bend Community College. Booths will be set up in the ATEC building, 7662 Chanute St. NE.

Ken Russell, head of the college's Career Placement Center, said 23 exhibitors have reserved space, with 19 of them being businesses looking for employees. "Many of them have positions that are available immediately," Russell said.

The college sponsored a hiring fair in the fall for three or four years, Russell said, but previous events focused on hiring for the holiday season. "This year we have more manufacturers interested in attending, so we changed the name," he said.

The list of exhibitors includes some different names, businesses new to Grant County like ChinaSoft and Aviation Technical Services, which recently leased space from the Port of Moses Lake.

"This is something new we're trying," Russell said. The 2012 fair features fewer retail employers than past events, he said.

Doug Sly, the college's communications director, said the fall event is separate from BBCC's Job and Career Fair, held in the spring. "The fall event has grown because more local employers need to fill job openings," Sly wrote in a press release.

"This is kind of like a mini-interview, right on the spot," Russell said. People who attend should dress in professional attire and have copies of a resume to distribute, he said.

Exhibitors include Crown Moving, Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), D&L Foundry, Takata, National Frozen Foods Company, Odessa Memorial Health Care Center, J.R. Simplot, ResCare Home Care, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the U.S. Department of State, Fastenal, Grant County PUD, Staples, Lowes, Safeway, Frito-Lay, the Colville Confederated Tribes, Central Washington University, SkillSource and WorkSource.