LAWRENCE, Ind. - Lawrence Mayor Dean Jessup called the city's 24 laid-off emergency medical technicians the cream of the crop, and Monarch Beverage wants to harvest that crop.

Monarch already has 650 employees, but it has 40 job openings and said the laid-off EMTs would be given preferential hiring.

Jobs as forklift operators, material handlers and truck drivers are available.

The jobs are described as full-time, good paying positions with benefits, but it's unclear if EMTs accustomed to saving lives will be attracted to moving beer and wine.

"It would be a drastic change in the profession I'm currently in," said former Lawrence EMT Brandon Wilch. "Nothing is out of consideration, but it's not the profession I have been in."

The Monarch Beverage CEO is undeterred.

"We know they are very good people to begin with," said CEO Phil Terry. "We are going to bring them here on Monday. We are going to do a presentation about the jobs that are available and about the company, run them through the application process. For those that wish to work with us who are qualified, we are going to give them priority."

None of the laid-off workers have received their invitations yet, but they seem open to the concept.

"Not the path I planned on going down, but I would listen to their offer," said Shawn Remick, a former Lawrence paramedic.

Monarch said the job candidates could be hired and working by the end of the week. If they need truck driver training, Monarch will do that training for free.

Jessup said he was committed to helping find a landing place for the 24 EMTs, but doesn't rule out the possibility that there might be funds to rehire them some day. 

"I do see in the future, the potential of bringing these people back, if that fits into the grand scheme of things," Jessup said.