Task force gears up for job fair at Friday meeting

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Senior Staff Writer
| January 10, 2008 8:00 PM

Participating employer numbers 'filling up' for Jan. 31 event

COLUMBIA BASIN - The people working to attract employees to area businesses get the latest about a job and career fair directed toward parents and students.

The Operations Task Force meets Friday at 8 a.m., in Room 1871 in Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building.

Business Services Worksource Central Basin Employment Security Department representative Dustan Knauss said he and the task force's marketing subcommittee will roll out all news pertaining to a job and career fair taking place Jan. 31 in the commons area at Moses Lake High School from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., aimed at Columbia Basin high school students and their parents.

The fair has been dubbed, "The Future Is Now."

Knauss said he plans to talk about the involvement of the Columbia Basin Herald as a co-sponsor alongside the task force and the Moses Lake School District, and the fact Publisher Harlan Beagley will facilitate an employers forum.

He will also address the number of employers committed to the job fair to date.

"It's filling up fast," Knauss said Wednesday morning. "I don't know what will happen today. Yesterday was incredible. We had 25 committed yesterday. We're hoping to be able to hold 50."

The sponsors are mailing out 1,800 letters to parents about the event, some of the employers to be present and the opportunities available to students with a high school diploma.

"The big deal about the operations task force and this particular event is high-wage, high-demand jobs in the area, and to take that to the parents and the students in the community," Knauss said.

Knauss said he is still looking for commitments from another 25 employers, and said employers will have drawings tailored to high school students.

He expects 400 students in two different sessions to be in the Moses Lake High School theater for the employer forum, and then more during the event later that evening Jan. 31.

The event is open to the public, and so is the meeting Friday morning.

Also at Friday's meeting, the task force receives an update on a high school to work transition book and the leadership strategy for the task force.

For more information about the task force, call the community college's Center for Business and Industry Services at 509-793-2374.

For more information about the event, call Knauss at 509-766-4118.