SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Attendees of the Chamber of Commerce 27th Annual San Angelo Business Expo at the McNease Convention Center had the opportunity to mingle with San Angelo businesses and Goodfellow Air Force Base members to learn about job opportunities available in the Conch Valley area, Sept. 27.
The expo was open to public, along with schools from the local area, welcoming roughly 2,000 individuals by the end of the event.
“We are really excited to see San Angelo come out, and also the great cooperative effort from Goodfellow Air Force Base,” said Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Partain. “Master Sgt. Mrowiec serves on our committee, along with Katheryn Ganster with the STARBASE program, and several other people that came in when needed to help connect us with Goodfellow. It is a wonderful thing to have Goodfellow and San Angelo working so closely together.”
The theme for the expo was ‘Coming Together’ and the different organizations, groups and the Chamber of Commerce demonstrated this, but there was a secondary mission for the event.
“This Business Expo is kind of multi-purpose, one theme is a hands-on interactive exploration,” said Partain. “This is an old-fashioned way to get together, talk about business, meet one another, to be open to new ideas and learn something.”
Local eighth graders received these opportunities and some advice from guest speaker, Angelo State University Professor Herman Howard, who spoke on preparing for the future and how to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
“When you are in eighth grade you are kind of wrapping up your childhood, whether you know it or not,” said Partain. “You have to start thinking about what am I going to take in high school, am I looking for a technology degree, do I want more liberal arts.”
With all of the different organizations, the students were able to explore many different interests.
“I went to cosmetology, a few medical ones and also a booth for Angelo State University,” said Rochelle Independent School District eighth grader, Morgan Stacie. “ASU helped with things that would help us stand out and get a job easier compared to other people.”
Planning for the expo was done through the Chamber of Commerce, as with many large scale events in San Angelo, Goodfellow helped where it could.
“Master Sgt. Mrowiec was on our committee, he came out and had some really good ideas,” said Partain. “He was one of the ones who could bring us down to earth and let us know, ‘yeah we can do these things but that might be a bit more difficult,’ he was a good example of a person who is a leader but can also be a motivator and garner a good group of people to come out and help.”