Potential employers and employees alike brought the Job Fair and Career Expo to full capacity Wednesday, a sign of Hall County's recovering job market.

The event, hosted by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, was pronounced a resounding success as a line of job hunters wrapped around the outside of the Georgia Mountains Center.

Those fortunate enough to make it inside were greeted by more than 40 employers looking to fill more than 1,000 positions, according to chamber Vice President of Economic Development Tim Evans.

"We have several thousand people who are waiting to get in, and we would love to be able to get more people in here faster," he said. "Connecting people with job opportunities is something that we all ought to be focused on, especially in this time."

According to Evans, Hall County's unemployment rate has been falling since winter and now sits right around 8 percent.

"I think we're very fortunate," he said. "We are very blessed to be in the economic position we're in right now compared to the nation and a lot of Georgia."

And with several new plants slated to open in Hall County later this year, Evans said he only expects things to get better.

"Our expectation is that (the unemployment rate) will continue to trend down because of some of these new plant startups," he said.

"You have quite a few that are adding entire production lines this year. That's a lot of hiring new jobs, and that's why our employers are here — to find some good people."

ZF Wind Power is one such company likely to hire Hall County residents.

As it plans to open a new wind turbine gear box factory early next year, senior human resources generalist Janet Lowery said the company is looking to hire 240 new employees for positions in management as well as hourly workers.

"We did the career expo last year," she said.

"Unfortunately, last year we didn't have the jobs. So we were collecting, collecting, collecting.

This time it's nice because we actually have the jobs and we're actively recruiting."

Lowery's table had a line backed up at the expo as she met potential employees, accepted applications and even held interviews with qualified individuals.

But she wasn't the only one offering open positions.

"We have a different employment atmosphere this year," Evans said. "You have a lot more companies that are hiring this year than last year. So the opportunities are much, much greater."

Food processing, manufacturing, health care, financial services, retail and many other industries were represented.

"It's a pretty broad base of companies," Evans said.

"There's a little bit of everything. And it's management positions, front line supervisors and front line employees of all different types."

Job hunter Cory Mack said he was pleased by the turnout.

"I was really surprised," he said. "I wasn't expecting to see this many employers show up and actually have applications on hand."

Mack said he came to the expo because it gives him a chance to meet potential employers face to face.

"You do it online, and you don't know what you're getting," he said.

"That's definitely a benefit of the job fair. You get a chance to actually personally greet someone, shake their hand, and they can look at you physically and think ‘is he what my company represents?'"

Dennis Poole said he recently earned a degree from the Interactive College of Technology and is new to the job market.

Even if he didn't walk away from the expo employed, he said he's confident a job will come.

"This is a good opportunity for us to meet people who are hiring so we can figure out what people have for us," he said. "Also, we can figure out our weaknesses as far as interviewing and meeting strangers. ... If we don't find anything here, it will help us with our interview skills."