Effort made to transition Sussex County students into local workforce

DAGSBORO, Del. – For businesses in Sussex County, like Fulton Bank in Millsboro, it can be a difficult time trying to attract young local workers. Now a new event at Indian River High School could be a great new tool for businesses to do just that.

“There’s a great need in the area for help, work force development,” said Fred Thomas, membership programming manager for the Bethany-Fenwick area chamber of commerce.

Noticing a need for attracting Sussex County students into the work force, Indian River High School and the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce teamed up to bring 28 businesses, with 500 job openings to the High School looking for new talent.

We asked business leaders what they think the next generation of workers are looking for.

“I think for the students here to be relevant. I think to really break it down for them and show them that there is an opportunity here that for certain candidates we also offer tuition reimbursement,” said Cathie Aschiero, manager for Fulton Bank in Millsboro.

Some businesses we spoke with say they have seen increased interest recently in staying home, rather than looking to other horizons.

“I see some of the kids that are coming out I speak to are interested in Ag banking. Which is really unique to the area which hopefully we can retain those as well,” said Aschiero.

While events like this are a great start for retaining young workers, officials say this needs to be a collaborative effort from multiple entities.

“It’s incumbent upon not only the chambers, the school districts, the secondary-ed, and the businesses, as well as local and county government to make sure that we have all the pieces in place to make it happen,” said Thomas.

This event will be back next year and even include workshops to help students with networking to find employment.

This was the first time this event was held, and it was pieced together in six weeks. Their plans for next year include computer labs for students to apply to companies with online applications only.