The purpose of the event was to show area students the high-tech career opportunities opening up at the WestGate and in the region.
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updated: 5/11/2009 8:21:23 AM
Crane Career Fair Attracts 500 Students
Organizers of a career fair for the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park say the event surpassed expectations. More than 500 junior high school students from southern Indiana attended the first career fair at WestGate. Indiana Office of Defense Development Director Jason Lovell says it served as a "vision-making occasion" for students who will be needed as highly trained professionals in a few years as the state continues to build a $5 billion commercial defense cluster.
Source: Inside INdiana Business
Press Release
CRANE, Indiana – Fortune 500 companies and local firms painted a vision of a career in high technology for rural students in southern Indiana May 7 and 500 junior high students from Daviess, Martin and Greene counties exceeded organizer expectations at the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park.
The Career Fair, the first for the WestGate, offered opportunities for area teenagers to meet with technology professionals from SAIC, EG&G, ITT Electronics and several other national and local commercial defense companies, according to Steve Clark, president of the Citizen’s Academy Legacy Organization (CALO) in Greene County. CALO was a principal organizer of the event.
“This represents a great vision-making occasion for students who will be needed as highly trained professionals in a few years as Indiana continues to build its $5 billion commercial defense industry cluster,” said Jason Lovell, director of the Indiana Office of Defense Development.
The purpose of the event was to show area students the high-tech career opportunities opening up at the WestGate and in the region. The Naval Service Activity (NSA) facility at Crane and its Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) operations currently directly employ or contract with more than 5,000 scientists, engineers and technology professionals in the region. Current employment at the WestGate is expected to top 300 this year and is expected continue growing with the planned addition of additional enterprise-level defense companies in the park.
“In addition to creating local jobs, the mission of the WestGate includes a role to inspire local students to pursue careers in science and technology, and then create opportunities for them to continue living in the region after they graduate from college,” said Gene Shaw, president of the WestGate Authority. “Our collective hats are off to the Greene County Citizens Academy for taking the first step to help achieve this.”
Defense professionals from the Indiana NSA facility, which includes a federal military laboratory with NSWC operations, were also on hand to demonstrate high-tech electronic and optic devices, including military equipment and hardware deployed globally by all branches of the American Armed Forces. Several local firms, state agencies, Ivy Tech Community College, the Indiana Army National Guard and other defense-related firms serving NSA Crane also took part.
The Greene County Citizens Academy plans to make the Career Fair an annual event, according to Clark.
Source: WestGate@Crane Technology Park
