More than 150 local high school students attended the first Mercer County Youth Symposium at the Conference Center at Mercer County Community College Oct. 8.
The event, hosted by the Youth Investment Council of the County’s Workforce Investment Board, was aimed at informing high school juniors and seniors about employment opportunities in seven growth sectors as identified by the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Those growth sectors are represented by “talent networks” that the DLWD established in 2011 to focus on the specific needs of key industries in New Jersey.
Maurice L. Coleman, senior vice president and New York market manager at Bank of America, delivered a keynote address that focused on resilience, vision and discipline.
Students heard a presentation by Padma Arvind, director of the New Jersey Healthcare Talent Network based at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations and then split up into groups to hear classroom presentations by the talent network coordinators.
Talent network coordinators represented advanced manufacturing, financial services, hospitality and tourism, life sciences, technology and entrepreneurship, and transportation, logistics and distribution.
The symposium provided students with information such as educational requirements, salaries, employer expectations, and opportunities for advancement in those fields.
Students from Hamilton West, Hightstown, Hopewell Valley, Lawrence, Mercer County Technical, Mercer High School, Robbinsville, Steinert, Trenton Central, Trenton High West and Daylight/Twilight and West Windsor-Plainsboro North attended the symposium.
