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BURLINGTON (WITI) — Where do we go from here? That question is being asked of hundreds of Echo Lake Foods workers not without a job in Burlington.

Michael Ayers is out of work and with little money to support his mother and brother. He knows his livelihood is on the line. 

“Felt low felt pretty low, trying to figure out what I’m going to do, figure out how I’m going to survive,” said Ayers.

It was an eight-alarm fire that gutted a warehouse at Echo Lake Foods on January 30th. 88 agencies throughout southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois rushed to contain the fire in the production area of the factory.

On Wednesday, February 13th, the Racine County Workforce Development Center sponsored a job fair in direct response to the fire and the displaced employees.

“It goes to show you that there’s still a lot of good in society today and people are willing to step up and help when the chips are down,” said ________.

There were more than 50 employers available for workers to meet on Wednesday. They range from temporary services and technical companies to food services. Many workers were filling out applications and passing their resumes off to potential employers.

Wednesday’s job fair was open to Echo Lake Foods employees as well as the public.

Racine Co. Executive Jim Ladwig tells FOX6 News, some of the Echo Lake Foods workers have been transferred to different facilities. Others are working on the Burlington site doing other jobs. But that number is limited.

BURLINGTON (WITI) — Hundreds of workers of Echo Lake Foods met on Wednesday, February 6th to hear from the company and state about their future.

The workers turned out at three different meetings throughout the day. Company officials told them there are plans to rebuild. But those workers have concerns about how to survive financially until that happens.

Shelby Piepiora’s life was on the upswing. The forklift operator who’d seen his share of lay-offs just landed a job at the Echo Lake Foods plant. Now Piepiora is one of hundreds learning about government help.

“Services like unemployment insurance, BadgerCare for healthcare insurance, food stamps as well as all the resources available through the Workforce Development Center,” said Alice Oliver from Workforce Development.

Echo Lake Foods officials say they will hire back dozens in the coming weeks to work at their Yorkville plant. The company also hopes to start a small production line at its Burlington site.

Piepiora is hopeful to one day work back at Echo Lake Foods and get his life back to where it was before the massive fire. 

On Wednesday, February 13th, there will be a job fair in Burlington with at least a dozen companies who are interested in hiring the displaced workers.

ABC World News with Charles Gibson

In the final weeks of the 2008 presidential race, "World News with Charles Gibson" is hitting the road to report from five cities in closely contested states across the Midwest for the "Great American Battleground Bus Tour."

In Racine, Wisconsin, as we found in other midwestern cities, the major industry is and has always has been manufacturing.

As we have found all week on this tour, it is a lousy time for manufacturing. Racine has struggled with high unemployment -- the highest in the state and 9.6 percent over the past five years.

"A strong back and willingness to work is not longer enough to have a middle class life which it used to be," said Racine Mayor Gary Becker.

There is high unemployment in Racine, but there are also lots of jobs. A thousand positions were posted just this week for skilled workers. So "World News" visited Gateway Technical College to see a county program where workers get 16 weeks of training for jobs in high demand.

"I decided that maybe its best to get some more to upgrade my skills in factory work so I could find a good paying job around the area here," said Joe Lori, a recently laid off single father.

David Lindas lost his job last year, and says this program changed his opinion of his home town.

"I wasn't really that big a fan up until now because it's hard to get a steady job in the Racine area," Lindas said. W"hen I got home from graduation [at Gateway] I had two messages on my machine for job interviews. So I was working about a week and a half after I graduated."

Of 100 recent graduates of the program, 95 are now employed.

Watch the video of the original broadcast at the ABC News website.