WorkSource Career Connections Expo visits Agriplex Oct. 17

OKANOGAN – As its career expo draws near, WorkSource Okanogan County has released a list of vendors that have signed on to participate in the mid-October at the fairgrounds.

WorkSource Career Connection Specialist Kristi O’Neill advised recently: “We currently have about 75 vendors confirmed and some new representatives for this year.”

The event billed as the Okanogan County High School Career Connections Expo will be held from 8:30 a.m. until noon on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds Agriplex, 175 Rodeo Trail Road in Okanogan. Representatives from four-year, community and technical colleges, Job Corps, employers, military branches, skills center, WorkSource, and more will be in attendance.

Among employers who have signed on at this writing are AeroTech, Microsoft, Boeing, Asplundh, and Port of Moses Lake along with many local companies.

“We are also expecting specific career professionals to be there to talk with the kids about their pathway,” O’Neill said.

Career professionals will include firefighter, computer technician. Attorney, boilermaker, CDL truck driver, emergency medical technician (EMT), financial advisor, photographer, accountant, dentist, dental hygienist and assistant, systems technician, digital media specialist, speech therapist, naturopath, midwife, public relations specialist, marketing manager, distribution engineer, medical simulation technician, unmanned systems operator, athletic trainer, early childhood education teacher, librarian, chef, marketing manager, computer programmer, police officer, Department of Transportation engineer, and many more.

O’Neill encourages those who would like specific careers to be invited to the Expo to contact her at (509) 826-7555 or email KROneill@esd.wa.gov.

WorkSource Job Training Counselor Marcus Allen has been making the rounds at schools and community meetings to spread the word about the upcoming Expo and familiarize listeners with state-supported apprenticeship programs that encourage high school students to look at the wide variety of career opportunities they might otherwise miss.

Last month, Allen was a guest speaker at the Brewster Chamber of Commerce where many of those in attendance heard for the first time about the state’s Career Connect Washington initiative.