About 20 businesses attended the Adult Career Fair at Panorama High School. A few of those businesses gave their thoughts on the event and what they hoped to find in prospective employees.

POET Biorefining General Manager Bill Howell sees this event as an opportunity to connect to those who may not benefit from a general application process. “I think there’s an opportunity here to talk to a number of employers (and) get an idea of what’s available in this area. Many times, people don’t even know what the businesses and industries are in their local area. Many times we don’t know the people who are out there that we can hire. It’s just a matter of getting the two connected.”

The host Panorama High School also benefited from the opportunity to help fill some of their openings. District Administrative Assistant Vanessa Phillips saw interest, even among current high school students. “They know we’re awesome so they might want to be here in the future. I had a couple people come and visit from our own school and I would definitely encourage them to come back.”

The fair opened earlier in the day for the high school students. Some companies, including Van Wall, had information on job training and educational programs the students could take advantage of after high school.