Paulding County Economic Development Press Release                                    March 22, 2023

PCED hosts College, Business & Industry Showcase  

PAULDING – The Paulding County Economic Development (PCED) office will host a College, Business and Industry Showcase event on April 4 at the Extension Building on the Paulding County Fairgrounds.  The event will bring junior and senior students from all three Paulding County high schools to learn about, meet and discuss future opportunities with area colleges and businesses.

“This event is an opportunity for students to become familiarized with local business and what they do, gain awareness of various careers, get leads on summer employment, see what colleges in the region have to offer, and much more. We understand that each student is in a different place with job and future education decisions. Our hope with this event is to meet students where they are in that decision process and help provide them with numerous options to consider for their future.” stated Economic Development Office Manager Kristen Schilt.

The event will run from 8am-12noon with students arriving at the top of each hour.  All Vantage Career Center students from Antwerp, Paulding and Wayne Trace schools are invited to attend the opening hour on their way to the career center.  Each school will then bus their students to the event on the hour for forty-five minutes.  Homeschool students and the general public are invited to attend at any time.

Students will be provided a “passport” upon arrival.  The passports suggest a variety of questions to ask participating entities to help create conversation.  Each student is encouraged   to talk to a minimum of five businesses and have the business sign their passport.  Completed passports will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift gas card, one winner per school will be drawn.  The gift cards were sponsored by National Oil & Gas, Inc.  They provide fuel to Marathon gas stations all over the county.

This event has grown over the years.  This year there are a new record of 52 entities that have sent an RSVP for the event, including the new Rhodes State Mobile RV laboratory.  For questions about the event contact the PCED office at 419-399-8295.