A new company that opened in Clanton three weeks ago is on a mission to find jobs for Chilton County residents.

Elwood Staffing, located on Highway 31 across from Pizza Hut, assists people in every step of the employment process, from their initial hiring to their long-term career plans.

“We bring opportunities to put the community to work and also offer them (a) full benefit package and 401k plan the first day of their employment,” said April Harrison, area manager of Elwood Staffing in Clanton. “We’ve got 70 branches, so if someone has interests in relocation and job opportunities elsewhere, we could assist them with that as well.”

Essentially, Elwood Staffing serves as a liaison between companies looking for employees and people looking for jobs.

Elwood Staffing Services Inc. was founded in 1980 in Columbus, Ind., as a pre-employment testing and consulting firm.

Now, the company provides what it calls “contingent staffing solutions in the light industrial or commercial staffing sector” and operates 70 branches in 12 states.

As a private firm, all branch offices are corporately owned and operated.

Elwood Staffing manages all stages of the hiring and employment life cycle, including recruitment, screening, orientation and testing, placement, performance evaluation, professional development and retention.

The company employs 400 corporate staff members and employed about 42,000 temporary associates last year.

In the last three weeks, Elwood’s Clanton branch has employed 28 people.

“That will be increasing every week,” Harrison said of the employment rate. “The applications are online. They’re welcome to complete that in our office or at home or wherever they have Internet access, but we take walk-ins as well. Everybody goes through a very thorough interview process.”

Applicants are not required to pay Elwood any fees throughout their employment process. Elwood negotiates fees with companies they assist.

Harrison said the company offers a referral bonus to applicants who refer someone else to Elwood for help.

Lezli Martin, on-site manager, and Kristen Adams, on-site specialist, are also part of the company’s Clanton team.

Elwood Staffing is open Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Applications are accepted and interviews are held each day from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Anyone looking for a job must have two forms of identification.

For online applications, visit www.elwoodstaffing.com, click on New Applicant Registration, create a user I.D. and password and complete the application.

For more information, call (205) 588-6616.