Vermont Career Fair- Success!
As the dust settles from the second installment of Vermonts Largest Career Fair we are gathering attendee data, assembling our photos and reports to share with you. Another sell out of vendor booths and huge attendance marked success for this years event at the Champlain Valley Expo Center in Essex. The staff at AGC/VT and Vermonts Department of Labor have done a great job registering guests, assisting booth setups, and orchestrating the day was a great display of teamwork and dedication to growing the workforce.
Indoor booths were amazing with very distinct creative displays, take-aways and friendly people. Outside had a great setup of static displays including fire and safety equipment, military equipment, big rig trucks and the always famous Casella Excavator Rodeo. Attendees were instructed by John Casella and his team on the basic controls of the mini excavator and they were challenged to move different objects around for points.
Governor Phil Scott arrived at 1pm and held his weekly press conference from the Expo Center. He discussed the many challenges that Vermont employers are facing when hiring in this competitive environment with historically low unemployment numbers. He recognized the success of the Career Fair and thanked the participants for creating the livable wage jobs being advertised that the show. Following the press conference the Governor visited each booth and spoke with vendors and attendees alike.
In addition to hundreds of general public attendees schools as far away as Bennington filled up buses and visited the event. This is the second year of the event and Rachael Townsend, AGC/VT Workforce Director, visited schools across the state to set up a plan for them to visit. It was great to hear stories from vendors who had school attendees who visited last year apply for jobs once they graduated which shows the benefits of creating that interest early.
AGC/VT staff is still awaiting results from our vendor polls but exit polling at the event showed that most had more than one applicant and that they felt that attendance was great. Each year this event will continue to grow and create opportunities for both vendors and people looking to better their careers. Be on the lookout for more reports and photo galleries of the event.
Indoor booths were amazing with very distinct creative displays, take-aways and friendly people. Outside had a great setup of static displays including fire and safety equipment, military equipment, big rig trucks and the always famous Casella Excavator Rodeo. Attendees were instructed by John Casella and his team on the basic controls of the mini excavator and they were challenged to move different objects around for points.
Governor Phil Scott arrived at 1pm and held his weekly press conference from the Expo Center. He discussed the many challenges that Vermont employers are facing when hiring in this competitive environment with historically low unemployment numbers. He recognized the success of the Career Fair and thanked the participants for creating the livable wage jobs being advertised that the show. Following the press conference the Governor visited each booth and spoke with vendors and attendees alike.
In addition to hundreds of general public attendees schools as far away as Bennington filled up buses and visited the event. This is the second year of the event and Rachael Townsend, AGC/VT Workforce Director, visited schools across the state to set up a plan for them to visit. It was great to hear stories from vendors who had school attendees who visited last year apply for jobs once they graduated which shows the benefits of creating that interest early.
AGC/VT staff is still awaiting results from our vendor polls but exit polling at the event showed that most had more than one applicant and that they felt that attendance was great. Each year this event will continue to grow and create opportunities for both vendors and people looking to better their careers. Be on the lookout for more reports and photo galleries of the event.
