Power Breakfast: Companies missing at job fairs, Toyota, Simons bid for rival, strip clubs, Aaron’s, Delta

It’s not only jobs that are MIA in this economy. So are companies attending job fairs.

That means firms that run the events also are struggling in another twist on the recession, reports AJC staffer Michael Kanell. They know they will be swamped by the unemployed and must hustle to find hiring companies, sometimes in vain.

“Over the last year and a half, it’s been the roughest I’ve ever seen in my industry,” said Jim Carter, owner of Kennesaw-based Diversity Hiring Expos, which runs career fairs around the Southeast. “The last six months have been pretty brutal.”

Like most companies that run job fairs, Diversity Hiring’s success depends on finding businesses that want to fill positions and will rent space where they can quickly meet hundreds of candidates, Kanell reports.

Three years ago, a Diversity Hiring job fair would typically include up to 40 companies. Now, employer turnout can be half that, Kanell writes.

Carter has seen companies delay payment and even bounce checks.

Also in the AJC:

• Toyota considers Corolla recall
• Simons bid for mall rival would create local powerhouse
• Fulton wins ruling in effort to ban alcohol at strip clubs
• Aaron’s profit climbs 32 percent
• Increase in meeting attendance offers hope to hospitality industry
• Delta applies for flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport

In other media:

• Warren Buffett’s company reveals investment changes
• Mortgage delinquencies higher in fourth quarter
• Party gridlock in Washington feeds new fear of debt crisis
• Bulk of stimulus spending yet to come