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Davie County High School hosted its annual career expo on April 5 to bring students together with local businesses.

The goals:

• help students connect with the industries and careers available to them in Davie County;

ª identify workforce needs in the community;

• align educational programs offered at Davie High and Davidson-Davie Community College to meet the needs of local businesses; and

• communicate employment needs and necessary credentials to students.

“Our goal is to provide information on all options regarding education and career opportunities for the students of Davie County,” said Alyse Wooldridge, career development coordinator. “It is imperative we have a positive, collaborative relationship with the community college and businesses in our community in order to ensure the future success of our young people. This was our first Spring Career Expo since 2020 and I appreciate all of the participants attending and making it a successful event.”

Twenty-seven local businesses and educational organizations took advantage of the opportunity to meet with more than 300 students and share what their company has to offer.

Participants included: Ashley Furniture, Avgol, Brakebush Brothers, Inc., Charter Foods/Taco Bell, Cherry Hill Farm, Comfort Bilt, Davie Construction, Davie County Emergency Services (EMS), Davie County Fire Service, Davie County Sheriff’s Office, Davie County Schools,  DDCC, DDCC Apprenticeship Program, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, Gildan,  IGNITE DAVIE, PalletOne, Reeb Millwork, Navy Nuclear Engineering, NC Department of Justice – Criminal Justice Standards Division, Sportsfield Specialties, Talon Aviation, The Andersons Inc., Town of Mocksville, Triad Career Connect, UHOH, UTI-NASCAR Technical Institute, Wake Forest Baptist Health, and the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.

Davie County EMS provided students with a hands-on opportunity with its training equipment. Joseph Ashburn, the training coordinator, was pleased with the response. “There were a lot of positive comments and I hope this opened a few eyes to Emergency Services. Maybe getting to do this will help to get students interested in the EMT and fire classes.”

Although this year’s career expo is over, there are still many ways for companies to connect with this future workforce. For more information, contact Wooldridge at wooldridgea@davie.k12.nc.us or 336-751-5905 ext. 5117.