Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corp. and the CCEDC's Business Education Partnership had the opportunity to partner with Lehighton Area High School to host a Career Day earlier this month. It was an amazing way to showcase career choices to the students with companies that are right here in Carbon County.

Among those companies represented were manufacturers, hospitality, tourism, attorneys, bankers and Realtors, just to name a few. A large number of students were even able to register for a summer job with some of the companies. CCEDC is looking to partner with our other high schools in Carbon County to host career days and wants to thank all the businesses that participated to make it a success.These events are extremely important for our students. They enable companies to speak directly to the students and explain what they do. It is equally important for the students to learn what types of jobs are available in our county and what kind of education they will need to work in those industries. Not all good-paying jobs require a 4-year college degree. Some jobs require a 2-year tech school certification with some students even being hired upon graduation from Carbon Career & Technical Institute.Take manufacturing, for instance. Representatives from Ampal, Ametek, Blue Ridge Pressure Casting, SMF and Highwood attended the event. They brought along samples of what they produce right here in our own backyards.In order to be hired by these manufacturers, potential employees need science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related educations. These are not your grandfather's manufacturing jobs. They require a lot more technical knowledge, most of which is learned in high school and tech school.A study released by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center establishes manufacturing as the driving industry behind Pennsylvania's rural economy and the premier provider of jobs and wages within the commonwealth's non-urban areas.Unfortunately, most skilled-construction professionals are nearing the age of retirement and they are not being replaced by an equal or greater number of young, talented workers. Becoming a skilled tradesperson does not preclude workers from additional business education.Quite the opposite; many of the most successful construction owners started in the field, learned the business from the ground up and then added the business acumen to build their own companies.Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" recently spoke to Congress about this problem also. His comment was, "If we want to make America great again, we gotta make work cool again." In a letter he wrote to a viewer, he stated, "Making work cool means challenging the stigmas and stereotypes that keep people from exploring careers in the trades. There are lots of ways to do that, and no one way is superior to another."CCEDC is working with our local companies and schools to look at the opportunities available to our students in the local workforce. If you have a school-age child, you owe it to them to allow them to explore all the resources that are open to them for success.Kathy Henderson is director of economic development for the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development.