HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The city of Hendersonville and the Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to launch an effort to help businesses big and small hire employees faster during a nationwide labor shortage.

Hendersonville has temporarily lifted its ordinance that restricts certain signs in the city, including “Help Wanted” and “Hiring” signs, so businesses can advertise they are hiring using a sign during the month of September. The campaign, called “Hendersonville is Hiring,” also gives businesses access to tools and resources to improve hiring outcomes.

Kathleen Hawkins, president and CEO of the Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce, told News 2 since the pandemic, companies have had to change the way they recruit due to changes in the workforce and employee expectations. The campaign provides a resource kit that teaches businesses how to get creative and stay competitive when hiring.

“It’s about creating a culture and environment that does more than what we’re used to have to do, because we’ve had to change to compete with the changing world,” Hawkins said.

According to Hawkins, every industry has been impacted by the labor shortage in Hendersonville. Many businesses have had to make adjustments due to the lack of staff, including reducing their hours of operations and offering work from home options.

While the growth in Middle Tennessee is mainly positive, Hawkins said it has come with growing pains in the job market.

“As Middle Tennessee continues to grow, we’re creating our own problem because we’re bringing in these great new companies, and then we’re creating problems for these other businesses because these companies are taking their employees,” Hawkins said.

Hendersonville Planning Commission Director Kevin Free told News 2 the campaign makes it easy for applicants, too, by compiling all the participating businesses’ job openings in one place.

“It gets all of the information out there at once where we have multiple businesses out there looking to hire individuals, and it does it in one short period of time, and then also it allows for the hiring signs to be placed out where they would normally be in violation of our local ordinances,” Free said.

Nineteen businesses had already signed up to participate in the free campaign within the first few hours, according to Hawkins.

The campaign lasts through Sept. 30.

To learn more about the campaign, access job listings, or obtain a free resource kit as a Hendersonville business, click here.