The second annual Career Connections countywide job fair was held Wednesday, March 22, 2023, and it more than doubled the participation levels of last year. The event allowed more than 40 employers to meet with over 275 local adults, college students and high school juniors and seniors.
“It takes a tremendous amount of work to put an event like this together, so to see students, career seekers and employers turnout in the numbers they did was super energizing,” said Ashley Vandenbusche, Adrian’s Service Center Manager for Michigan Works! Southeast, a sponsor of the event.
Sponsors included Midwest Energy and Communications, Michigan Works! Southeast, Siena Heights University, Lenawee Intermediate School District, Anderson Development Company, Clift Buick GMC, Evonik-Silbond, Walmart, and MC Bartending.
The Store Manager for the Adrian Meijer, Ben Negron, said he met several “high-value” applicants and possibly new employees.
“I was also very impressed with the organizational effort by the Align team to make the space welcoming for all,” he said. “The one thing that stood out about the Align team was that there were constantly visible and helped the various vendors throughout the event—which means a lot to us!”
Garry Clift, owner of Clift Buick GMC, was able to share both his for-profit and non-profit passions by talking to job seekers about employment with the dealership and volunteer opportunities with the animal rescue he supports, Ahimsa Safe Haven.
“This was an outstanding event again this year,” Garry Clift, owner of Clift Buick GMC said. “Today was a great investment in the community,” he said.
Sheila Blair, manager of the ACWD, offered that high schoolers had the opportunity to not only visit with employers for maybe the first time in their lives, but they were able to tour the Siena Heights University campus, and also attend mini seminars onsite as well.
“We had seminars for them to learn about what apprenticeships, scholarships and other supports were available for their interests, and also which employers offer tuition reimbursement,” she said. “We even talked to them about the importance of cleaning up their social media posts since employers are now looking at social media before hiring candidates.”
High school teachers and counselors who attended the event with their students were very impressed with the offerings for high schoolers.
“Once again, I am amazed at the level of interest that is out there in the business community to positively interact with today’s graduating seniors. I talked to so many vendors who were excited to see these young people,” said Adrian High School Math/Business Teacher Thomas Allor, Jr. “(Wednesday’s event) is another affirmation there are job opportunities out there for those who want to learn a new skill, provide a valuable service, and be a part of a company that actually values their employees.”
Allor said the students gained so much from the experience.
“Many of the kids really felt that the vendors explained the jobs well,” he reported. “Align provided them the opportunity to meet and greet, now it is (the student’s) turn to actual follow through and apply for the job.”
Randall Yagiela, Development Director for Lenawee Now, said he was extremely pleased with how the event turned out for both job seekers and employers.
“I went to every table and the job seekers were engaged and talking with employers,” he said, “and employers were very impressed with their opportunity to meet job candidates.”
Blair stated that ACWD is going to make Career Connections an annual event.
“Bringing job seekers and employers together and giving students the opportunity to solidify their future plans is far too important to not ensure this event happens every year,” she said. “I can’t say it will grow every year, like this one did—there are only so many venues that can hold this many people and booths—but we need to make it a priority to put job seekers, students and employers together at least annually.”
Blair said the event would likely be held in March each year, as that timeframe provides high school seniors with the chance to have a job plan following graduation. She wanted to be clear that these events don’t help just high school students—they positively impact the entire county.
“We all want to live in a community which fosters and sustains a strong, diverse economy,” said Vandenbusche. “Providing career seekers and employers with forums like Career Connections to engage with one another is an essential part of ensuring Lenawee County continues to be a place where individuals and businesses alike can live, work and prosper.”
Career Connections was developed in 2022 to connect high school seniors who were not planning to follow a traditional career path to different employment options available in the region, including opportunities for joining the workforce after high school, apprenticeships, and tuition reimbursement. Although this event was open to college students and community members, they were not as heavy a focus for the 2022 fair.
“It was a great collaboration to bring this event together,” said Patrick Farver, Executive Director of Lenawee Now and the Align Center for Workforce Development (ACWD), which created the event. “All the sponsors helped support and promote this event to other businesses, students and people looking for a job. Coming together to support our businesses and job seekers is what makes this a special event.”