Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass (BPBG), the joint-venture company responsible for the design, construction, systemization, operation and closure of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, partnered with Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) for a student job fair March 2.

BPBG staff shared company hiring information with hundreds of students and student veterans interested in job opportunities at the fair. Jason Schoolmeester, Human Resources staff lead with BPBG teaming partner, AECOM, said he was optimistic about the outcome.

“We’re looking for people with a variety of backgrounds, from engineering to administrative to plant management,” said Schoolmeester. “Our EKU partnership has always provided us employees who are well-educated and willing to learn and grow in their jobs, and we give back by focusing on local hiring. It’s a win-win situation.”

BPBG has turned to EKU for years to recruit local hires, minorities and veterans, and has hired several student interns and graduate full-time employees from the university, said Michelle Novotny, Human Resources processes manager, Bechtel National.

“We’ve worked closely with EKU from the beginning because we’re focused on hiring locally and supporting our community,” said Novotny. “In the beginning, we knew the project would be of long-enough duration that we could target undergraduate students and bring them on as interns, give them good training and experience, and then hire them full-time after their graduation. Now we’re closer to operations, we are still in need of interns and graduates right out of school or with a few years of experience.”

One local student was pleased with the possibility that she could be making chemical weapons history.

“It’s really good to know that Bechtel and AECOM and the other companies of the joint venture are taking such care in hiring people for this project,” said Kelly Greene, junior, EKU. “All we’ve heard about are the chemical weapons being stored here for so long, and it would be cool to know I could be part of making them go away.”

For more information about open positions with the five BPBG joint-venture companies (Bechtel National, Parsons Corporation, AECOM, Battelle Memorial Institute and GP Strategies), follow this link: http://bechtelparsonsbgcapp.com/Employment.asp.