Mr Cadogan said he was ''humbled'' by the response to the''stock-take'' of jobs in the district following job cuts at Balclutha and Milton as a result of Southern Cross Forest Products restructuring its operation.
The company had been in receivership and staff learned a fortnight ago a total of 79 jobs would be cut, at Mosgiel, Milton and Balclutha. The restructuring included the closure of the Rosebank Sawmill in Balclutha.
Mr Cadogan organised the job summit on Thursday and said although it was organised quickly, it drew ''an absolutely magnificent'' response from all the major employers in the district.
''I was humbled to have that response from the employers who saw our predicament and also recognised the opportunity to gain some excellent new staff members.
''We had over 20 major employers there, along with probably 45 of the people who were made redundant the week before. As a result of the stock-take, I have every hope the vast majority will have received job offers and will start work straight away.
''It was a great opportunity for employers as well. These are people with good skills, a good track record and a proven work ethic, so the employers are getting good candidates for their vacancies.''
Because of the robustness of the Clutha economy, he was confident the district could absorb the job losses and find work for those made redundant so they would not have shift away to get employment.
''It's a challenge, of course, especially with the suddenness of the last round of redundancies, but what we thought would be big disaster has been mitigated in some way by the job summit.''
Mr Cadogan was also grateful for the support of Ministry of Social Development staff, who also played a role in the job stock-take and provided information to those made redundant.
One of the major employers in the district who had rallied in support was Silver Fern Farms. At its Finegand plant, the co-operative would be able to employ about a third of those made redundant from Southern Cross Forest Products, he said.
''That's just one example of the wonderful response we got,'' he said.
