December 10, 2015 – Charleston, SC – Approximately 1000 students from throughout the Charleston region attended the inaugural High School STEM Career Fair held at Exchange Park Fairgrounds in Ladson. 

 

Over 40 local companies brought interactive exhibits with a goal of sharing the high demand, high wage workforce opportunities available right here in their community.

Acutec Industries, LLC	Excel Apparatus Services	Roper St. Francis
Airgas / Lincoln Electric	Google	Santee Cooper
American Metal Casting Consortium	Hendrick Automotive Group	SC Aquarium
American Society for Metals	Hubner Manufacturing Corp.	Scout Boats
Atlatl Software	Ingevity	SCRA
Berkeley Electric Coop	Lincoln Electric / Airgas	SPAWAR
Blackbaud	Liquid Box	STEM Premier
Boeing South Carolina	MAHLE Behr Charleston	STEM Visions
Charleston Defense Contractors Association	Medical University of South Carolina	Streit USA Armoring
Charleston Southern University	ModernTech	Tighitco
Cummins Turbo Technologies	Nucor Steel	Trident Technical College
Daimler Vans Manufacturing	Palmetto Construction Group	UEC Electronics
ECPI	Robert Bosch LLC	USC College of Engineering and Computing
		and more!

From electrical linemen doing demonstrations on utility poles to armored vehicles – there were many highlights to see before the students even entered the expo building!

High school robotics teams from West Ashley HS, Cane Bay HS, Fort Dorchester HS, and Ashley Ridge/Summerville HS demonstrated their creations and even launched t-shirts into the crowds!

Participating CCSD schools included:

R. B. Stall HS	West Ashley HS	Garrett Academy of Technology
Burke HS	Baptist Hill MHS	Military Magnet Academy
St. John’s HS	North Charleston HS	Charleston Charter School for Math & Science
Lincoln MHS	Wando HS

Check out this excellent article on the event published in the Charleston Regional Business Journal:
http://charlestonbusiness.com/news/56487-stem-career-fair-gives-students-hands-on-experience

Thanks to Sonic Drive-In Dorchester Road, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Summerville, Sam’s Club, and Coastal Coffee for the food & beverages.

Thanks to all the cooperating school districts, economic development offices, and local colleges for their support for the event!

Thanks to the Exchange Park Fairgrounds for hosting the event, to Grady Johnson & the AMAZING SC Biz / Charleston Regional Business Journal Team for being the presenting sponsor, and all the sponsors and exhibitors that made the career fair possible – looking forward already to year #2!