SINTON, Texas — The highly anticipated hiring event for the billion-dollar steel mill in Sinton kicked off with a bang on Saturday.
"Looking forward to it, got here at 3:15 this morning, and I’ve been waiting, now we got a line all around the parking lot," said Bryan Oelschlegel, first in line at the hiring event which was held at the San Patricio County Appraisal District.
Steel Dynamics is a company that has not had layoffs for more than 25 years, according to Steel senior vice president Glenn Pushis.
Saturday's big turnout was a happy surprise for Pushis.
The hiring event was supposed to be open at 9 a.m. Due to the amount of people in line, Steel Dynamics opened the event 90 minutes early.
Women and men came from around the area hoping they'd get their chance to fill out an application for their desired job.
"Applying for a job as a welder or whatever they need," job applicant Danny McLendon said.
Steel Dynamics has more than 600 jobs they are needing to fill, including sales, administration, electricians and engineers.
"Any kind of management position, I can work with overhead cranes as far as moving spools, I work with forklifts," applicant James Saye said.
Saye got to the event at about 5:30 a.m. and was on his way back home by 9:30 a.m.
He said having Steel Dynamics is a big deal to Sinton.
"Community in general out here, if you’re not a farmer you’re pretty much in a bad position," he said.
Saye said the pandemic has made situations worse, causing the area to struggle.
"It causes a lot of crime, and I see a lot of unhappiness," Saye said. "This is an opportunity and an experience that people get a chance to do something and change their lives."
The event lasted until 5 p.m Saturday and will happen again from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
There are no online applications at this time.
