Winners of our 'Made in DeKalb' Prize Bags!

Winners of our 'Made in DeKalb' Prize Bags!

PHOTO: The Fifth Annual 'Made in DeKalb' Expo was held last week, giving high school students from around the county an opportunity to see what jobs await them after graduation! (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

By Staff Reports

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — Destiny Keener and Taylior Freeman have been selected as the winners of our 'Made in DeKalb prize bags! Thanks for like an sharing our post. The bags may be picked up at our office in Rainsville from 8 am - 4 pm.

Last Thursday the 5th Annual Made in DeKalb Business Expo was held at the Northeast Alabama Agri-Business Center in Rainsville. Designed as a networking opportunity for local businesses and industries, high school students from across DeKalb County had the chance to see what potential jobs might await them following graduation.

According to Ronnie Crabtree, who has been key in the history of the Expo, approximately 2,000 9th and 12th graders from both Fort Payne and DeKalb County schools were be able to see booths set up by between 75 and 80 different businesses and industries. In addition to them, there was also be a handful of student groups with booths set up at the Expo. “It’s a good way to provide networking opportunities for our local businesses. It might also pique the interest of some of our students as to a job opportunity or career path they might want to take,” Crabtree said.

When asked, Crabtree explained that the event was inspired by Made in Alabama, an initiative designed to help bring global companies and industries into Alabama, and encourage them to set up facilities in the state. While on a smaller scale, the Made in DeKalb Expo still allows groups like Plasman, Heil, and GameTime to demonstrate what they do to the students in attendance, which may in turn help grow these industries, as well as encourage the high schoolers to potentially seek out a career in one of these fields.

Looking into the future, Crabtree expressed the opinion that, “We want to keep growing the event and add more vendors. We also want to keep expanding the potential for job growth in the county.” Not only that, but by making the event larger with each passing year, that adds to the list of possible jobs for the students in attendance to become more interested in, and perhaps even seek out a career with.