By Amy Higgins
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Nancy Brodrick of Westwood gets information at the U.S. Public Health Service booth at the job fair. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

Slow economy or not, government services are still needed. And more than 1,000 Greater Cincinnatians showed up at a job fair Wednesday hoping to help serve.

About 16 federal and county agencies set up booths at Xavier University's Cintas Center. Although organizers called it the first federal/local government job fair in the area, they said it will likely not be the last.

"Fifty percent of our job force is eligible for retirement in the next seven years," said Don Yost, director of the Greater Cincinnati Federal Executive Board. "Whether there's a recession or not, we still have to do business."

Indeed, local labor force statistics show that government is one of the few sectors adding jobs in Greater Cincinnati. In the past four years, the federal government grew by 1,300 jobs in Greater Cincinnati. Local government has added 3,100 since 1998.

That job security is what attracted people like Trincy Scott and Denise Thomas. Ms. Scott, 26, of Oakley said she was hoping to find a job with travel and good benefits, like the U.S. Customs Service offers.

Ms. Thomas, 24, of North Fairmount was attracted to possibilities with the Hamilton County Probation Department.

"With everything going on, a government job is a good place to be at, and the pay is great," Ms. Thomas said.

With small children at home, George Bodenham isn't looking for opportunities to travel. But the 53-year-old Batavia man was attracted to the opportunity for stability and advancement in a government job.

He owned a printing company for 12 years until the stress of the difficult business climate gave him a heart attack.

"It was killing me, literally," he said.

For the past year, he has worked for the IRS, and Wednesday, he was looking to learn what other government options were available.

Sue Denny, spokeswoman with the Social Security Administration, said most of the job seekers were looking to make mid-career changes. They were not students just starting out.

"It's job security and stability," she said.

In addition to Social Security, other agencies represented included the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice and the Postal Inspection Service.

More information about federal government jobs is available at www.usajobs.opm.gov. Hamilton County job listings are at www.hamilton-co.org.

E-mail ahiggins@enquirer.com