Employers and job seekers invited to participate in Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital Symposium and Job Fair in El Paso, Texas, on March 19, 2014

EL PASO, Texas — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande are sponsoring the Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital Symposium and Job Fair. Both events will be held in El Paso on March 19. The symposium will be held at the Workforce Solutions Norman Haley Employment Center, 300 E. Main St., from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The job fair will be held at the El Paso County Coliseum, 4100 E. Paisano St., from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Army Corps of Engineers awarded Clark/McCarthy Healthcare Partners II a $648 million contract to build the Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital with an estimated completion date of November 2016. This large-scale infrastructure construction project is designed to accommodate population growth in the El Paso area. The symposium will highlight the project's significant economic and employment impact on the community. Notable speakers will include U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.

"At OFCCP, our job is to protect workers, promote diversity and enforce the laws, which require companies with federal contracts to provide equal opportunity in the workplace," said OFCCP Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Director Melissa L. Speer. "Events like this, which connect local workers with employers, are an important part of achieving those goals and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used to help create good jobs for all workers."

The Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital has been designated as a mega-construction project by OFCCP. The agency's mega-project designation promotes the goal of ensuring equal opportunity in the skilled trades through effective recruitment and training. In such projects, which must be valued at $25 million or more and expected to last for at least one year, OFCCP brings participants together and ensures ongoing coordination; provides compliance assistance to the prime contractor and subcontractors regarding their affirmative-action obligations; and conducts compliance evaluations. Through this approach, stakeholders share ideas, linkages and resources to ensure equal employment opportunity on the mega-project, including for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

This is the first job fair in connection with the Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital mega-project. Participating employers will include the prime contractor, approximately 20 subcontractors and more than 50 other local businesses.

Community leaders, agencies and business representatives interested in attending the free symposium can contact Dinorah S. Boykin at 210-472-5835 or boykin.dinorah@dol.gov Individuals looking for employment and planning to attend the free job fair can register at http://www.urgjobs.com/2014/03/ft-bliss-hospital-job-fair/ or call 915-887-2600. To register as an employer for the fair please contact Lucio Glenn at 915-887-2120 for general questions regarding the job fair please contact 915-887-2600 or 915-887-2016 or joann.munoz@urgjobs.org.

OFCCP enforces Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. These three laws require those who do business with the federal government, both contractors and subcontractors, to follow the fair and reasonable standard that they not discriminate in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. Additional information is available at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/.