(MARSHALL, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus welcomed representatives from 31 companies to its spring Industry Job Fair on Thursday, March 27. Their booths were visited by 185 TSTC students and alumni.
Process Operations student David Fonteno attended the event to gain better insight into his potential prospects after he graduates. Several employers caught his eye.
“There’s opportunities for everybody (at TSTC), and having these job fairs opens them up,” Fonteno said.
Representatives from Hallmark Center Fixture Operations, a wood solutions manufacturer for Hallmark’s retail efforts, attended the fair in search of a computer numerical control programmer. Robby Dubea, the plant’s operations manager, said the Precision Machining Technology program’s curriculum matched the job’s description perfectly.
“I went to two or three TSTC job fairs 20 years ago — it’s been a while,” Dubea said. “We felt like this was a great opportunity to come out and share that we’ve got a job opening.”
STEMCO, a Longview-based manufacturer of specialized equipment for commercial vehicles, regularly works with TSTC’s Automation and Controls Technology program. STEMCO senior HR business partner Randi Johnson said the company wants to continue building that relationship with the Marshall campus.
“I think TSTC is a legacy,” she said. “It has been such an integral part of secondary education. The skill set that students coming out of TSTC bring is invaluable.”
Gabriel Cambrelen, a workforce development manager for construction and engineering company Kiewit, said the job fair marked his first time at TSTC’s Marshall campus. The company has hired from several TSTC programs in the past, but Cambrelen was focused on the Diesel Equipment Technology program.
“The majority of our work is on heavy construction off-road equipment, so if we could get one or two diesel mechanics per graduation from this campus, that would be fantastic,” he said.
Registration for TSTC’s summer and fall semesters is underway. For more information, go to tstc.edu.
