A new community-wide career fair will soon be held at Columbia High School and organizers are seeking participants to share about their businesses.
Columbia High School, the Marion County School District, Jobs for Mississippi Graduates, Junior Auxiliary of Columbia, Marion County Development Partnership and Main Street Columbia Inc. will host the event from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. March 27 at the CHS gym.
CHS Counselor Keri Armstrong said Ingalls Shipyard is among the companies that have signed on already. Juniors and seniors from all the schools in the county will be there, and Armstrong said they’re working to get employers from all fields to present.
“We’ll have everything from law enforcement and firefighters to contractors and people from the tourism industry. We even have a beekeeper coming,” she said. “It’s the first time for a career fair this big for us. We had one last year for our students, but we want this one to be for everyone in the community.”
Armstrong said the fair will include entrepreneurs to talk with students who have expressed they would like to have their own business someday.
“These are juniors and seniors and soon they’ll have decisions to make. They’ll need to decide whether to go to college or get a job. They need to decide what kind of training they will need,” she said. “There will be people here from the Carl Loftin Career & Technology Center and Pearl River Community College with information on two-year programs. We want kids in the county to know what is available here.
“We have some good employers here, and we want them to understand that they don’t have to go off to get a good job.”
As the career fair idea grows, Armstrong hopes the other schools in Marion County can host.
Businesses can RSVP to the event by contacting Donna Rackley or Chris Turnage at Columbia High School at (601) 736-5335, faxing (601) 736-4374 or emailing drackley@columbiaschools.org or cturnage@columbiaschools.org.
