Hundreds of people showed up at the Invista Centre to attend a job fair hosted by Feihe International.
Feihe is China’s largest domestic producer of infant formula and they are currently looking to hire more than 120 people for Canada Royal Milk, their new division in Kingston.
“We have a lot of different positions available and many of them are very specialized skills, technical and engineering skill set. There are also human resources, finance, production line operators, machine cleaners, warehouse workers — we’re willing to train,” says Carey Bidtnes, human resources manager for Canada Royal Milk.
Many job seekers from Kingston and surrounding areas showed up to try their luck at the fair.
Megan Richmond attended the event to get informed. “I felt it was pretty informative. I’m hoping to get a call-back obviously but I feel more prepared now if I have an interview,” says Richmond.
Feihe International is calling this move the largest foreign investment in full-time permanent jobs in Ontario, in the last decade.
“They took an interest to be in Kingston. They got people in Kingston involved from the mayor’s office to farmers, and I think that’s excellent for this community,” says Doug Beatty, another job seeker at the event.
This is the company’s first round of hiring and they will continue filling full-time vacancies across their departments until the end of next year.
“We’re starting a brand new Canadian company and that’s very exciting, so there could be a few things that are unexpected. So we’re really looking for people that love to learn, that would be excited to try new things,” says Bidtnes.
The company’s products will mainly be produced for export, but Canada Royal Milk is hoping to develop nutritional products for the North American market as well.
The plant is currently under construction and will be ready for production by September 2019.