RUMFORD — Eleven businesses, social service agencies, and health and educational organizations participated in a job fair Friday, sponsored by Maine CareerCenters.

Rene Smith, CareerCenter manager for the Maine Department of Labor, said the agency was excited for the opportunity to hold it at American Legion Hall at 184 Congress St. because “it’s just not always easy to find a location.”

Maine CareerCenters provide a variety of employment and training services at no charge for Maine workers and businesses.

Employers included:

• Beal University, a private university in Bangor that specializes in professional programs such as health care and business.

• MaineHealth, a group of hospitals, clinics and specialty medical groups from Farmington to Portland.

• Sweetser, a nonprofit community mental health provider based in Saco.

• Lepage Bakeries in Lewiston.

• Oxford County Mental Health Services in Rumford and Norway.

• Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice based in Lewiston.

• Walgreens pharmacy chain.

• Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Farmington.

• General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Bath.

• Hope Association in Rumford, which provides services to people with developmental disabilities.

• Vortex Services LLC in New York and Florida, providing environmental remediation systems.

Smith said Maine CareerCenters is reaching out to communities statewide.

“We’re doing it across the entire state,” she said, financed by the American Rescue Plan Act.

“The goal is to even after we lose that funding to continue going out into our communities, meeting people where they’re at,” she said.

Smith said the Rumford Public Library will have CareerCenter consultants available weekly this summer and twice a month at the Rangeley Public Library, the Webster Library in Kingfield and the Strong Public Library.

Information on where to find a CareerCenter consultant is available at local libraries and the Facebook pages of CareerCenters in Wilton, Lewiston and Brunswick.

“The public can just come in and meet with us,” Smith said.

People can bring a resume or have a consultant help them create one or streamline one, she said. Consultants will also provide options for jobs and careers.

“There are lots of things that we can do,” Smith said. “We have a conversation with them around what their interests are, what they have done, what they’ve liked about what they’ve done, and we have an assessment that they take, which will show their strengths (for their) career path.”

And, if someone has barriers to employment such as child care issues or transportation issues, consultants can help work through them.

CareerCenter staff also work with employers who need workers, including through local libraries, meeting with a consultant and accessing Maine JobLink, a free online service for employers and customers. The service is “100% vetted to ensure that all employers are true employers,” Smith said.

Another option for job seekers and employers in Rumford is the online American Job Center site operated by the Eastern Maine Development Corp. To make an appointment with a representative call 207-9910147 or email workforce@emdc.org.

The Wilton CareerCenter is at 865 U.S. Route 2; Lewiston CareerCenter at at 5 Mollison Way.