WASHINGTON, N.C. –– There were numerous local professional and educational opportunities showcased on Wednesday at the Beaufort County Job and Resource Fair.
The event featured a morning session for Beaufort County high school students and an afternoon session for the public. The fair was organized by the Beaufort County Workforce Development Team, which consists of Beaufort County Economic Development, N.C. Works, Rivers East Workforce Development Board, Beaufort County Schools, Beaufort County Community College and NC Department of Health and Human Services Vocational Rehab. It was sponsored in part by Brightspeed and the North Carolina State University Institute for Emerging Issues.
“You have all these companies in Beaufort County and our region that have a variety of positions that may include hourly employees cranking out product, or folks in a managerial role, or administrative support and HR and IT,” Beaufort County Economic Development Director Brad Hufford said. “It’s hard to break in and understand where those opportunities are. To be able to open it up and have citizens come in and learn about the possibilities is really what this was all about.”
The job fair featured local employers encompassing areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, health care, law enforcement, emergency medical services and local government. In addition to job opportunities, representatives from Beaufort County NCWorks Career Center, Vocational Rehabilitation, Beaufort County Community College, Beaufort County Board of Realtors, One Community, Beaufort County Department of Social Services and East Carolina Vocational Center offered information on various community resources and educational opportunities.
Hufford attributed the event’s success to the efforts of the Workforce Development Team and Economic Development Specialist Sue Squires.
“In our staff, Sue Squires really did a lot of the heavy lifting and communicating and getting the word out to the businesses and the job seekers,” Hufford said.
This was the first Beaufort County Job and Resource Fair, and it will be held annually.
“We definitely think it’ll grow,” Hufford said. “This is the first year we’ve done it, and we just started planning a few months ago. I would say it came together great today. We’ve got a lot of room to expand here at the Civic Center, and we’ll also be polling our participants today to learn ways we can improve.”
