HAMMOND - Hundreds of people are looking for work after being laid off in the wake of the Smitty’s plant explosion in Tangipahoa Parish.

Smitty’s Supplies was forced to cut most of its workforce after the explosion and fire two weeks ago.

Many of those employees were at a career fair in Hammond Thursday as agencies around the state are teaming up to help them.

“These last two weeks have been very hard for me because I was so used to getting up every morning at 4 o’clock, going to work. I haven’t been sleeping well, me and my daughter have been crying a whole lot,” Sandy Belton, a Smitty’s employee of 20 years said.

The Department of Public Safety and Correction’s division of Probation and Parole said that the event was originally just a second chance job and resource fair.

“It is normally for our second chance employer job fair which is allowing our clients that are on probation and parole, an opportunity to meet with and speak to employers who are willing to hire people with a record, a criminal record,” Regional Administrator for Probation and Parole Wendy Dalton said.

However, after the Smitty’s accident, Geaux Jobs Workforce Area 20, which serves the Tangipahoa Parish area, partnered with them to also have it be a career fair for former Smitty’s employees.

“Smitty’s employed, I want to say, approximately 400 employees, so we need all hands on deck. The supply definitely don’t meet the demand, so we welcome all these different employees with those same businesses,” Geaux Jobs Workforce Area 20 Development Manager Shalonda Chappell said.

Another person at the fair helping was Smitty’s Human Resources Director Jaye Collura, who was there to be a reference and resource for the former employees as they look for new opportunities.

“There’s a lot of employees here that are willing to train so that they don’t have to stay in the same skill set,” Collura said.

Collura says that having to let go so many employees was one of the most difficult moments of her entire career. 

“I’m very blessed that these employees know that I will do anything in my power to help them so that they know that they can come to me for anything that they may need,” Collura said.

While several employees told WBRZ that they miss their job at Smitty’s, they are still pushing forward, trying to make the best of an unprecedented situation for them.

“There are some chances where I could pursue a similar role with a new company and that is promising, but I just got to keep my ducks in a row and keep going,” Tyler Groce said.

Collura says that Smitty’s has plans in the work, but that it’s still not sure whether it’ll rebuild in Roseland or somewhere else.