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Zachry is one of the contractors working at the Golden Triangle Polymers site in Orange County.

The company and its team of workers are responsible for the inside battery limit to the outside battery limit. They operate as a joint venture with a few engineering firms.

Zachry leaders are looking to hire more than 1,000 people by the end of the year.

Talent Acquisition Manager Andres Vega said the team began to mobilize at the site in the last quarter of 2022 and hope to complete their work in 2025 or 2026.

“It is very important for us to find quality people, especially within the communities that we work in,” he told Orange Newsmedia. “We want to have a footprint and have an impact in the community to be able to service our clients. It’s great to be able to know this project is attractive to job seekers.”

Zachry was one of the contractors present June 24 at the Expo Center in Orange for a Workforce Solutions job fair connecting local job seekers with opportunities within the construction and operation of the Golden Triangle Polymers.

Vega he did not expect the massive turnout.

“We had some giveaways to hand out like backpacks, pens and notebooks, and we ran out within the first hour and a half,” Vega said.

“We’re going to target hiring the people who attended the job fair who are seeking opportunities that we’re hiring for based on the phase of the project. Of course, right now, we’re in the early stages and a lot of that is dirt operators, concrete type of positions, laborers, entry level roles because we are still doing a lot of the underground work.”

According to Vega, Zachry officials are already targeting the next job fair, scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Expo Center.

Orange County Economic Development Corporation and Local First are also hosting a Vendor and Supplier Fair July 26 at Orange County Convention and Expo Center.

Register at eventcreate.com/e/localfirst.

Turnout & What’s Next

Workforce Solutions Southeast Texas Project Coordinator Dana L. Willis is no stranger to job fairs or large turnouts.

The most she has seen is approximately 1,400 people turning out for a post-Hurricane Rita job fair in 2005.

Willis said June 24’s turnout of approximately 940 people represented the largest for a traditional job fair in the region.

The event was advertised to last from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Well, I’ll be honest with you, when I got there at 8 a.m., there were people there already,” Willis said. “That was a good indicator of the interest. The vendors were very pleased and wowed by the turnout in the volume of people.”

According to Willis, Workforce Solutions team members are evaluating how the event went to see if there are things organizers can do better.

“Right now, there aren’t any hard and fast changes planned,” she said.

Golden Triangle Polymers Company is building an integrated polymers plant at 2525 Highway 87 South in Orange County.

Construction has begun, and startup is expected to occur in 2026.

Construction is expected to create 4,500 construction jobs.

Once operational, the plant will produce Marlex® polyethylene and plans to employ more than 500 full-time workers.