Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Left to right: Jeff Wehr, Cathy Strohmaier, Robb Soliday, Kamie Iverson, Pete Nelson, H.P. Carstensen, Paige Alloway, Kelly Watkins, Elizabeth Larson, Lisa Martin, Mark Stedman, Kelly Weber, Curt Wood, Larissa Zeiler Fink, Marcus Horak, Krystal Schafer, Scott Halme, Tyson Largent, Matthew Johnson, Pete Martin and Todd Barstad were among the presenters and students attending the career fair at Odessa High School December 1.
Guests line up for lunch served by Odessa students and community volunteers Monday, December 1, at the career fair put on at Odessa High School.
Matthew Johnson, attorney, presents information on the legal profession, as Larissa Fink, Lisa Martin and Stacey Rasmussen await their turn to describe their jobs in accounting and other types of business.
Pete Martin is the presenter for ag-based professions. Pete Nelson, Tyson Largent and H.P. Carstensen also presented to this group of students.
The Lincoln County Economic Development Council has shared that, "The biggest threat to the quality of life in our county is youth out-migration." Our graduates are leaving our communities and not returning to fill the many open positions in business, healthcare, government, construction, agriculture and science. The Odessa High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America has partnered with the Council to tackle the problem head on to try and make a difference.
Together, the two organizations hosted a career fair for Lincoln County students, with special emphasis on careers needed in Lincoln County. After surveying Lincoln County businesses and organizations to identify what their current and future personnel needs are and, specifically, which positions are difficult to fill, a list was compiled and networking to locate speakers began.
This past Monday, 29 speakers representing nine different career clusters spoke to nearly 300 students from throughout the county about their own education and training, opportunities in their fields and recommendations they had for teens. The career clusters included: business, agriculture, healthcare, construction/trades, education, environment/conservation/biologist, law/publics safety/corrections, technology and entrepreneurship/startup businesses.
Presenters represented different professional categories:
Business: Lisa Martin, bookkeeper, and Larissa Fink, accountant, both with Leffel, Otis & Warwick in Odessa; Matthew Johnson, attorney with Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf, and Stacey Rassmussen, receptionist for Spokane Community Colleges.
Ag Services: H.P. Carstensen, manager, and Pete Nelson, mechanic, both of Odessa Trading Co .; Tyson Largent, truck driver, and Pete Martin, agronomist, both with the Odessa Grange Supply Co.
Entrepreneurs: Business owners Marcus Horak of Napa Auto Parts and Darren Summers of Voise Sausage.
Health care professions: Heather Wagner, occupational therapist at Lincoln Hospital in Davenport; Krystel Schafer with Inland Imaging; Megan Shepard, registered nurse, and Kelly Weber, therapist, both at OMHC.
Construction industry: G. Copenhaver of Copenhaver Construction; Scott Halme of Halme Construction and Sam Mullins, lineman for Avista.
Technololgy/engineering: Robb Soliday, precision farming GPS specialist with AgTech Services; Ben ?, network support engineer for Innovation Computing; and Kennet Bertelsen, P.E., with Stanec Engineering.
Education: Kami Iverson, preschool teacher, and Jeff Wehr, high school science teacher, both of the Odessa School District; Cathy Strohmaier, school psychologist, with the Moses lake School District.
Biology/Conservation/Environment: Todd Barstaad, biologist, and Curt Wood, game warden, both with the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife; Melissa Fisher, forest health specialist with the Dept. of Natural Resources.
Public Safety/Government: Kelly Watkins, Lincoln County Undersheriff; Margie Hall, director, Lincoln County Economic Development Council; Mark Stedman, Lincoln County Commissioner.
One of the highlights of the event was the keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Stuhlmiller, a Reardan native who is currently completing her last year of medical residency at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. She shared with her audience why she made the decision to return to her roots and practice family medicine in a small town. She encouraged all of the students to dream big and keep their small town in mind as they make decisions about their future careers.
After attending four 25-minute sessions of their choice, students were treated to a BBQ lunch cooked by parents and sponsored by Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf; the Lincoln County Economic Development Council; Leffel, Otis & Warwick and the Odessa FBLA.
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