Though she didn't have exact numbers today on how many people attended, the Economic Development Corp. of San Benito County president estimated attendance surpassed 3,000 people. She also noted how booth rentals were so popular this year, organizers might look to expand in 2010.
Owner of the Garden Salon in Tres Pinos, Olga Arreola, right, applies make-up to Diana Hernandez as her partner Carly Picha works on styling her hair. This was just one many local businesses that took part in Thursday's trade show.
A local businessman told the Free Lance that the 14th annual Spotlight on Hollister and San Benito County Expo and Job Fair was "a great opportunity."
"When you get people in the community together, different vendors, you get to see what everyone has and it's good for the public, too," said Charles Yaqub, nursery manager at Hollister Landscape Supply.
The 14th annual Spotlight on Hollister and San Benito County Expo and Job Fair was held Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Building with booths for local business, information on available jobs and speakers on green technologies. The event also featured recycling displays and events for children, summer employment help for teenagers and a mixer with live entertainment and local food.
Though she didn't have exact numbers on how many people attended today, the Economic Development Corp. of San Benito County president estimated attendance surpassed 3,000 people. She also noted how booth rentals were so popular this year, organizers might look to expand in 2010.
"But I'll have a better figure once we get together as a group," EDC President Nancy Martin said regarding attendance. "We had 1,000 bags to hand out and we gave all of those out."
She added that there was consistent foot traffic at the event all day.
Various businesses and community groups were represented at the expo, including the San Benito County Department of Child Support Services.
Nancy Velho, branch manager for the agency, said she was there "to advertise our services that we provide for the members of our community" and that the department also came to make sure "non-supportive parents" were there to find employment.
"Our purpose is to confirm that they go to us and we're supposed to get them to sign in and provide us with their name, so we can report back to the court," Velho said.
Other vendors said this was a great opportunity to network skills and resumes.
"We've even picked up a few resumes from people that do things that we might need done," said Roger DeNault, president of Santa Cruz-based Solar Technologies. "We are actually putting on people because we are getting busier and busier."
DeNault said he was pleased with the turnout and he used it to connect with a local construction firm.
"I haven't been around everybody, but I've made some good connections with another construction company who doesn't do exactly what we do but can do parts of what we do."
Martin said that she will be meeting with the event's general committee to see what worked and what can be improved.
"We tried so many new things. We're going to have a meeting and until that, I don't really know," she said. "We're also going to be sending out a survey to all our participants so we can get some additional feedback from them."
The expo went over well for Velho, but she expressed concern over the lack of jobs offered by her department.
"I think it's a great idea. I wish that there were more jobs that we could be offering to these people because I think that's the reason that they're here."
She continued: "What we're finding mostly is that people are interested in jobs ... That's what they are expecting and, unfortunately at this time, we don't have any job openings. So what we are doing is referring them to the Web site and telling them to keep referring back."
As for the success of the event, Martin said there was a waiting list for booths. It popular that the general committee will be looking at ways to expand to accommodate more booths.
"We will look at laying it out differently. It's a good location and I don't want to take it away from the downtown area," Martin said. "Maybe we will have to go back to having tents outside."
She added that the only major concern with that would be the possibility of strong winds or hot weather.
"I think it went well. (Businesses) had new opportunities to present their products," Martin said. "We had such a broad range of sponsors and brought in people who never thought about being a sponsor."
Colin McConville Colin McConville is a reporter with the Hollister Free Lance. You can reach him by email or at (831) 637-5566.
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