More than a dozen companies are expected to offer interviews and jobs this month exclusively to local ConAgra employees who will lose their jobs in April and May.

About 520 remaining ConAgra employees are slated to lose their jobs in what will be one of the region's biggest mass layoffs when the snack food maker's Garner facility closes in late May.

To help the affected workers find other opportunities, ConAgra and the Capital Area Workforce Development Board have scheduled an employment fair for March 30, about two months before ConAgra shuts down the local facility that produced Slim Jim snacks.

The thriving Garner facility was never able to recover from an explosion in 2009 that killed four people.

Area job seekers will soon have four new places to go for help.

Four new NC SHARE Network Access Points will open on June 24 at 11 a.m. to offer people help with the JobLink system. Trained volunteers will also offer people help with things like obtaining references, resume preparation and online job hunting.

The four access points are a partnership between Capital Area Workforce Development Board, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Division of Employment and Training, Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and North Carolina Division of Workforce Development. They will be located at:

• Family Life Center, Inc., 909 East Lee St., Smithfield
• First Reformed Church of Cary, 555 SW Maynard St., Cary
• Literacy Council of Wake County, 916 West Morgan St., Raleigh
• The Life Enrichment Center, Inc., 3805 Tarheel Club Road, Raleigh