INSPIRE CAREER CONCERT: Linking Schools and Local Businesses

Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby and Darke Counties will be hosting an inaugural event, INSPIRE CAREER CONCERT for high school seniors. The event will be held on October 3 at Eldora Speedway during Manufacturing Week. The goal is to actively link High School Seniors from a 4-county area to local businesses for future internships, summer, or full-time employment possibilities in the future. This is an inspirational event focused on helping students find their voice and career path. This is a great opportunity to bring High School Seniors together with local employers in order to make a meaningful personal connection before they graduate. The senior event will include a career fair (both in the morning and afternoon), two keynote speakers, and a band to keep the students energized.

The keynote speakers will include Jeremy Bout who is the President of Edge Factor. After spending 12 years using technology to bring ideas to life in the manufacturing industry, he leads the Edge Factor team in producing inspiring films and accompanying interactive resources to inspire the next generation of makers. As a critically acclaimed filmmaker, public speaker, and entrepreneur, Jeremy’s story-driven keynote presentations include underlying life skills lessons, such as hard work leads to success - it won’t be handed to you, you will be pushed out of your comfort zone, and failure stinks, but it’s what you do when you fail that defines you. The second keynote speaker is Michelle Poler. She is the Founder of Hello Fears, a social movement empowering millions to step outside of their comfort zone and tap into their full potential. She has spoken at TEDx, Google, INBOUND, Facebook, ESPN, Netflix, Procter and Gamble, Microsoft, Toyota, World Domination Summit, Festival of Media Global, and many more. Michelle has empowered over 20,000 students at schools and universities around the world to live with courage, find their authenticity, and embrace their growth paths.

There are nearly 1000 students from Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby, and Darke Counties registered with almost 100 local businesses attending. We continue to believe that our best hope for talent acquisition is right here at home.

This event is a great example of collaboration in action. The event is being sponsored by Hometown Opportunity, Auglaize Mercer Business Education Alliance (AMBE), Partnering for Progress, Darke County Economic Development, Workforce Partnership of Shelby County, Mercer County ESC, Auglaize County ESC, Midwest Regional ESC, Sidney Shelby Economic Partnership, Auglaize County, Mercer County, Darke County, Shelby County, City of Sidney, NKTelco, Eldora Speedway, and Ohio Means Jobs in Mercer, Auglaize and Shelby Counties.