Voters rarely expect candidates to be able to deliver on every promise made during their campaigns.

But as he went door to door in Blacksburg’s 3rd District, town councilman Darren Janesky told voters he would do all he could to help the town’s economy and bring much-needed jobs to the area.

Janesky knows money does not grow on trees and that jobs do not fall into the laps of the lazy. The Town of Blacksburg — in cooperation with the Upstate Workforce Investment Board (UWIB) and Spartanburg Community College (SCC) — will host a job training fair Sept. 29.

“The purpose of this job fair is to take the average person and teach them a skill,” Janesky said. “Our goal is to make participants more marketable to employers.”

The job training will be taught by SCC instructors, who assist participants in their quest of finding and learning trades. The course will take participants several weeks to finish, and upon completion will be followed by a job fair where they will get the opportunity to sell themselves to potential employers.

“If they complete the course, participants will have less competition going against them because they’re already trained,” Janesky said. “We’re not necessarily assuring people that they will get a job, but we do believe the time and effort in training will pay off.

“Unskilled wages are not enough to help families, but skilled jobs are more reliable and stable; it’ll give them a trade and work in a manufactured setting.”

Much of the thought behind the job training fair is due to a belief locally by some that there are no jobs, the councilman said.

“A lot of people locally have a misconception there are no jobs in the county,” Janesky said. “Talking with representatives from the (UWIB) at a recent Chamber (of Commerce) meeting, we realized there is a gap we need to do our best to fill. Hopefully this job training fair will help.”

Businesses have been more than willing to assist in letting people know of the upcoming job training fair, allowing Janesky and other local residents to advertise the event on their premises.

“They always seemed more than happy to pass me a roll of tape to place a sign on their windows,” Janesky said. “I’m excited about this and hope to receive a good response; if so, it’ll allow us opportunities to do this in the future as well.”

The event will be held at 4 p.m. at the Blacksburg Community House on South Shelby Street, located between the town hall and police station.