Sunday afternoon’s (Feb 22nd) 2026 Coalition Career Fair at Danville’s David S. Palmer Arena brought together 40 area businesses, community leaders, and interested parties wanting to talk “employment opportunities.” The idea for the coalition, and this event, came after Hyster Yale’s announced plans to leave Danville for Avon, Indiana. Greenwood Inc’s Ethan Darby said it was time to get past the negatives, and speak up about “connecting opportunities and building relationships.” And less than an hour after the event had begun, he already liked that he saw.
AUDIO: I think everybody was just getting tired of businesses leaving the area, and just no response from the community or the local businesses. So, it’s been good to see both come together here today. There’s been about 100 people through here so far, and it’s been a good day so far.
Greenwood’s Ross Darby, who had planted the seed for this event, said it was great to see the idea come to life.
AUDIO: It’s definitely something that you plan and plan and plan, and hope that it turns out the way that it is. But, I mean we’ve got all 40 businesses here. We’ve got a line out the door for the resume building room. The mock interview room’s flowing. So, it’s reality time and it’s happening; so, it’s pretty good.
Middle Picture: Greenwood Inc’s Ross Darby poses as 2026 Coalition Career Fair takes place on the David S. Palmer Arena floor. (Resume Building and Mock Interview sessions were taking place in conference room area.)
Standing behind one of the tables was Director of Vermilion County Works Chuck Jones. He said this is all about supporting individuals.
AUDIO: There’s a lot of people in this community who are looking for work; who maybe just need to know about what opportunities are out there. So, events like these really help us get the community engaged, and get information about those opportunities out there so people can start applying for these positions; or conversely get the training they need to qualify for some of these positions.
Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr served as emcee at the event, interviewing various participants. He told CIMG that he’s proud of how the Danville community can unite to celebrate, and unite to find solutions to a problem.
AUDIO: This came together simply because Ross Darby and Greenwood just said “Hey, we need to make sure that our folks can work. The people that are being displaced from Hyster and other places; we want to make sure that they know what we have here, so we don’t lose them out of our community.”
Sunday afternoon’s 2026 Coalition Career Fair at the David S. Palmer Arena ran from 1 to 5 PM.
