The public could hardly wait for the doors of the Veterans Memorial Building to open Thursday for the eighth annual Spotlight on Hollister Trade Show and Job Fair.
As sponsors finished setting up their booths before the event's noon start time, several people peeked inside to catch a glimpse of the newly renovated building on San Benito Street.
Work on the renovation began in August 2002 and planning of it long before that, forcing last year's trade show to relocate to the former Fremont School grounds. Visitors and sponsors alike were glad to have the event back at the Veterans Building, the site of the first six trade shows.
"Everything looks great," said Joan Campbell-Garcia, president of the San Benito County Board of Education. "They really did a great job on the building."
Philip Castro, a self-employed painting contractor, was taking it all in with his two young children.
"I wanted to check it out to see what they have because I'm thinking of getting a booth next year to promote my business, and I wanted to see what it will take," he said.
Al Martinez, director of the Economic Development Corporation, one of the event's major sponsors, was worried he wouldn't be able to fill all the spaces. But Martinez was happy to report that 108 of 109 spaces were filled. "We were squeezing them in," he said.
A broad range of businesses and organizations were reaching out to the community for a number of reasons.
The YMCA of San Benito County's booth was filled with program ideas, T-shirts and other information.
"We want people to know we're here in this community, what we are doing," said Lou Bettencourt, the YMCA's executive director. "It gives us a chance to talk about our mission for the kids in the community."
San Benito County Librarian Jo Wahdan said though many people were coming in to see the building, they were also coming to the library's booth asking questions about the library hours and their summer reading program. "They were asking us all kinds of questions," she said.
At the City of Hollister's booth, residents got information about city services. City Utility Manager Jim Perrine was on hand to answer questions about the city's water and wastewater treatment plant.
A team of human resource specialists from the National Parks Service was looking to fill two positions at Pinnacles National Monument for a biological science aide. "We are looking for a couple of students to fill this position," said the monument's Leticia Ruiz.
For the last four years, Maria Salas of the Central Coast Center for Independent Living has been reaching out to the disabled community through the trade show.
"This works. Last year I had six people respond," she said. "Even if only one person gets help, that one person can make a difference."
Local resident Yesenia Contreas, who works in Salinas as a branch manager for Hunter Employment Services, was hoping to capture the attention of local business owners.
"I want to open up the market in this area because I live here," she said.
Towards the end of the day, visitors snacked on pasta from De Maggio's, tasted sweets from Marich Confectionery, cooled their throats with Damm Water and received a financial report card from financial planner Mary Gibson: "If you don't like what you see, give me a call."
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