New jobs website is one more indicator of growth at Quonset

A new website highlighting job openings at the Quonset Business Park is just one more result of the steady growth we've been seeing here. Our infrastructure improvements have helped drive that growth, and with 8,800 people working at 168 companies, we anticipate even more job creation down the road. The new jobs website, www.QuonsetJobs.com, is updated regularly, listing 50 (or more) employment opportunities at any given time. The site, launched April 19 as a service to our tenants, will serve as a convenient online location for the growing number of Quonset companies wanting to post their open positions in one common location. It will likewise allow job seekers in the region to see all listings at the business park instead of having to sift through individual companies. The 3,160-acre business park is a local success story, and so are many of the thriving companies that call it home. The job openings currently listed on the new web page range across a wide array of industries, from science and technology to transportation, retail and more. The varied listings currently posted include openings for welders, engineers, medical researchers, longshoremen and office professionals. Companies with openings posted on www.QuonsetJobs.com so far include Hexagon Metrology, Landmark Aviation, Rhode Island Fast Ferry and NORAD. At the top of the webpage is a featured job that will rotate regularly to reflect new positions of interest. The current featured job, for example, is senior mechanical engineer at Hexagon Metrology. And there are many other openings in other categories that are either visible now or will be rolled out over time. The launch of the new site, which is hosted by the Quonset Development Corp. website, has been touted in recent radio ads as well. Those ads were funded by the tenant companies interested in getting the word out far and wide in their search for talent. The page also includes links to job sites sponsored by the state Dept. of Labor and Training and the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce. Boosted by $142 million in private investment, the companies at Quonset added over 2,700 new jobs in the last five years alone - a number that is expected to grow following the $22.3 million federal stimulus grant recently awarded the business park. Those funds will be put toward improving piers, roads and rails and to install a crane in preparation for offshore wind development and short sea shipping. As Quonset continues to be recognized - even on the national level - for its success as a business park, we see this new website as a way to boost the visibility of the individual resident companies that are hiring. Keith Stokes, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corp. and chairman of the QDC board said, "Quonset Business Park is a vital piece to the growth of Rhode Island's economy." As we expand as a business park and see more job opportunities at Quonset, we look forward to enhancing this central page where job seekers and employers can find good matches. In a difficult economy, we are proud to be able to offer another service to our tenants, while at the same time helping to put people to work. Steven King, P.E., is the managing director of the Quonset Development Corp., North Kingstown.