Adams County Development Council to host Career Showcase

Local employers will have an opportunity to present jobs and careers to students in grades 6-12 from Lind, Ritzville Sprague and Washtucna during the 2019 Lind-Ritzville-Sprague-Washtucna Career Showcase on Oct. 3 in Ritzville.

The showcase is presented by the Adams County Development Council.

Stephen McFadden of the ACDC was at the Lind-Ritzville School Board meeting on Aug. 26 to announce the showcase.

ACDC has produced two such showcases in Othello, however, this will be the first one it is hosting Ritzville.

“I am pleased to say that we are going to host the first showcase on my side of Adams County, where I live,” McFadden said to the board members. “I’m thrilled that we are going to be able to do that. We have a number of people from the school district staff on board.”

According to a packet provided by McFadden, goals for the showcase include providing a venue for students to meet local employers and providing employers the chance to showcase the career fields they offer.

McFadden says organizers also aim to get students familiar with programs offered by Big Bend Community College and the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center.

McFadden hopes students will see they can stay home in Adams County and find good jobs.

“Our employers will be setup like a job fair,” Mcfadden said. “They will be talking about their career paths, the skill sets that students need and how students can get hired in these jobs should they choose to stay at home, or if they choose to go off to college and then come back home.”

Every student attending the showcase will be shown an eight minute video that features professionals from Lind, Ritzville, Sprague and Washtucna.

Students will be given “passports” to track what presenters they see.

The event is being funded by ACDC and the county, and McFadden hopes to bring on some sponsors as well.

In an interview with The Journal, McFadden said the next step is getting as many local employers on board as possible.

“We want and need local employers to take part in this,” McFadden said.

To that end, there is no cost to employers wishing to participate. McFadden said he, as well as people on the planning committee, will be in town during the coming days and weeks going door to door talking about the event.

Any employers wanting to participate can contact McFadden at [email protected] or Janis Rountree at [email protected].

The 2019 Lind-Ritzville-Sprague-Washtucna Career Showcase will be on Oct. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Gilson Gymnasium in Ritzville.