Skilled Trades Expo Scheduled for Sept. 22-23

CANFIELD, Ohio — The Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo is back on for a two-day event this fall.

The event, scheduled for Sept. 22 and 23, will welcome students from Mahoning, Columbiana, Trumbull and Portage counties in Ohio, as well as Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania to the Canfield Fairgrounds. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. both days, and the program runs until 2 p.m.

The event had to be postponed in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an effort to reduce the number of students at the fairgrounds on a given day, county school districts will be divided between the two days, says Gary Hartman, association services director for The Builders Association of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

Sept. 22 will be for school districts from Mahoning, Columbiana and Portage counties, with Trumbull, Mercer and Lawrence counties attending on Sept. 23.

New for this year is an evening event to be held from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sept. 22, Hartman says. The evening event will be for parents, adult education students and any other interested parties, he says.

“Companies and unions will be there that are able to expound upon job opportunities for individuals,” Hartman says. “We hope to give them those opportunities too.”

Some 4,000 students attended the inaugural event in October 2019. By dividing the days, Hartman says the daily count will likely be closer to 2,500. That will help groups of students get a chance to see everything and be finished in about three hours, he says.

That will also help with any COVID-19 restrictions that might be in place at the time. Hartman expects masks will still need to be worn and presenters might need to limit some hands-on activities depending on the status of the pandemic.

Pictured: Some 4,000 students from six counties attended the inaugural Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo in 2019.