PALMER — Signs of the Valley job market were high on Wednesday as 59 vendors offered employment, training and educational opportunities at the Mat-Su Job Fair.

“I keep hearing the job market is so bad right now, but we’re not really seeing that,” said Victoria Walsh, the regional sales coordinator for Aflac. “We are accepting resumes and doing interviews for the 20 positions we have open statewide.”

GCI is always looking for people to fill their positions, said representative Heather Wagner. There are openings from Barrow to Seattle, and with the new retail store in the Cottonwood Creek Mall, there are definitely positions in the Valley, she said. Even banks and financial companies have openings in this bear market.

Country Financial is looking for representatives to fill branches in both Anchorage and the Valley, Sean Tyree said. Their business is growing, Tyree said, because people are realizing it’s a good time to return to the fundamentals of finance.

Alaska USA is hiring for teller positions in the Valley and positions at its corporate headquarters in Anchorage, Paula Nance said.

For those looking for something out of the office, DNS Alaska Trail Rides is hiring despite the predicted slowing of tourist traffic this summer. Anyone with both horse and people skills are encouraged to apply for the wrangler and teamster positions.

Perhaps the strength of the job opportunities in the Mat-Su is what drew this year’s record crowd. The nearly 850 job seekers shattered last year’s count of 500, and many were from out of state.

Michael Filkins recently moved here from North Carolina because he heard there were jobs in Alaska. Back in his hometown, even the McDonald’s are turning people away.

Tom Mangelsdorf — a self-described adventurer, astronomer and metaphysician — lived in the Valley for 13 years before moving to Wisconsin. Now, he’s ready to move back to what he calls his home sweet home. His daughter, Katie, is looking for a job too. She has experience in the fitness field but is willing to take anything to move back to the Valley.

Jerald Manginelli got an offer to work construction for Fred Meyer after he moved here from Washington. But today he is looking for something more long term. He’s getting to be 50, he said, and can’t shovel ditches for much longer.

Of course, the increase in attendance was also due to the more traditional reason as well.

Angela Kutzner was recently laid off from her last job. She is keeping a positive attitude and said it was time to move on. She is looking for a career-type job and is interested in the government positions. They tend to be more long-term and offer good benefits, Kutzner said. She attended the conference with her friend and her father, both of whom were also looking for a job.

Victoria Walsh of Aflac offers some advice for job seekers. Experience is not necessarily required, as many companies provide the tools and training for success.

Because employees are the face of the company, employers are often looking for a clean appearance and reasonable social skills.

But being that this was the Valley, jeans and T-shirts were more common than suits and ties.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or (907) 352-2252.