More than 200 people have applied to work at FreshDirect since the on-line grocer signed an agreement to consider Bronx residents screened by the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp., according to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who hosted a job fair in the rotunda of the Bronx County Building on July 18.
Of those, more than 70 individual were chosen by the economic development arm of the borough president’s office to move on to a second round of interviews with the company.
In February, the company set a target of filling some 200 new jobs it says it will create over the next eight years with Bronx residents.
Opponents of FreshDirect’s move to the Harlem River Yards in Port Morris called the promise empty, and said the low-wage jobs did not compensate for environmental damage from delivery trucks or for the nearly $130 million in subsidies the city and state have given to the company to keep it in New York.
“FreshDirect has made real commitments to our borough, and today’s job fair shows that they are ready to hire Bronxites years before they are located here,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “This job fair is a great example of how we can work with businesses to make development work for everyone.”
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hundreds? There was like 40 people. for $8 an hour 12 hour shifts non-union with a company that called ICE and is proposed to get $130 million in public subsidies. What kind of reporting is this?
BOEDC received 200-plus applications. Seventy moved to round 2. Those applicants are in addition to those who showed up at Borough Hall.