May 8, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Anne Mangan, PDC (503) 823-2594 Kevin Jeans-Gail Portland Workforce Alliance (503) 201-1803

4,500 Students Expected to Attend Northwest Youth Careers Expo May 10, 9 AM to 2 PM at Oregon Convention Center
3rd annual event showcases career and skill-building opportunities for students; Governor proclaims May as Youth Careers Month

Students throughout the Portland metropolitan area can learn about potential careers in manufacturing, construction, healthcare, technology and the arts at the NW Youth Careers Expo, sponsored by a dozen leading employers and organizations including Boeing, Gunderson, Inc., Legacy Health System, Oregon Iron Works, Oregon Steel Mills, PCC Structurals, Inc., and the Portland Development Commission, and coordinated by the Manufacturing 21 Coalition, Oregon Building Congress and Portland Workforce Alliance.

The Expo runs from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on May 10, 2007 in Hall A at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Students are invited to attend the Expo at no charge. More than 100 companies, educational and nonprofit organizations will participate as sponsors and exhibitors.

At 9:30 a.m. in Room B114-115 at the Expo, Allen Alley, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Ted Kulongoski, will announce the Governor’s proclamation of May as Youth Careers Month. He will be joined by City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Vicki Phillips, Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams, Tom Sass of Greenbrier Companies and other industry representatives.

Immediately following the announcement, the public and private sector representatives will join students at a welding booth in the exhibit hall for a hands-on demonstration.

According to event co-founder Drew Park of Columbia Wire and Iron, “The considerable workforce needs of local industry are a real opportunity for our young people. The Expo showcases family wage jobs in several sectors – giving students a real-world perspective of what’s possible for their future.”

“The Expo represents industry working hand-in-hand with educators and students,” said Vicki Phillips, Superintendent, Portland Public Schools. “We want this exploration of career options and skill-building to become embedded in our schools’ culture as an ongoing resource.”

Now in its third year, the Career Expo connects with diverse teenage populations and has drawn increasingly larger crowds of high school students from throughout the metro region, including the Portland, David Douglas and Vancouver school districts. Students can try welding, operate a crane, take apart valves and maneuver a robotic arm in the hands-on demonstration area of the exhibit hall, which will also include demos for other computer-controlled equipment, plasma cutting, wire stripping, door drilling, and a Portland General Electric line truck with utility bucket. FIRST Robotics will be showing off their competition robots throughout the day.

Also during the Expo, the Oregon Staffing Association, in partnership with Portland Human Resources Management Association & SW Washington Human Resources Management Association, will present several training programs designed to offer career readiness training.

More than 80 college counselors and human resources and industry professionals are volunteering their time to help young people prepare for job opportunities by conducting mock interviews, offering instruction in completing an application and making a good impression, and providing career guidance.

Students may also meet with community college representatives to explore post-high school educational resources.

The Careers Expo is an industry-driven collaboration designed to provide Oregon’s future workforce with career path information and resources for acquiring skills that will broaden their career options. The aging of the baby boomer workforce is expected to fuel as many as 670,000 open jobs in the next 10 years. According to the Oregon Employment Department, the metals industry alone will need 14,000 new workers by 2012.     

The NW Careers Expo is sponsored by Boeing Co., Gunderson Inc., Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Legacy Health System, Oregon Iron Works, Oregon Staffing Association, Oregon Steel Mills, Pacific Power, PCC Structurals Inc., Portland Development Commission, Portland Human Resource Managers Association, and SW Washington Human Resource Managers Association.

The diverse group of exhibitors includes Microsoft, Benchmade Knife Company, Columbia Wire & Iron Works, ESCO, Intel, Kraft Foods, Portland General Electric, Clackamas, Mount Hood and Portland Community Colleges, Portland Fire & Rescue, and the Art Institute of Portland.

PDC was created by Portland voters in 1958 to serve as the city’s urban renewal agency as laid out in Chapter 15 of the City’s Charter. PDC provides comprehensive housing, development and economic development programs within the Portland region

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Representatives of sponsoring organizations who are available for interviews include:

Drew Park, Columbia Wire & Iron, 971-404-2472; Drew@cwi1.com

Kevin Jeans-Gail, Portland Workforce Alliance, 503-201-1803; kgail@pps.k12.or.us

 

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