245 College Rd, Smithfield, NC 27577, USA — Johnston County eighth graders are thinking about their future careers after the JOCO Works Career Expo on Thursday and Friday.

The event put on by the Triangle East Chamber of Commerce with Johnston County Schools and Johnston Community College introduces students to the top companies in the community.

Other WRAL Top Stories

"We bus them in, they can come and explore with hands-on exhibits. What are the particular skills needed for this occupation? It's just meant to be fun, to plant seeds, " Triangle East Chamber of Commerce President Kelly Wallace said.

The sixth annual event was hosted at Johnston Community College. Dozens of companies in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, construction and agriculture came to explain potential careers. Biotechnology company Novo Nordisk has been the event's main sponsor since the start.

"We're really hoping the kids can see themselves working at Novo Nordisk one day," Novo Nordisk Public Affairs and Communications Director Shaylah Nunn-Jones said.

Johnston County Schools Director of Career and Technical Education Reno Palombit said the event is in line with the district's strategic plan which focuses on making sure students have the skills they need to join the workforce. He said it can be challenging with the landscape changing rapidly due to technology like AI.

"We have a CTE Advisory Council which helps give feedback on what's going on in the labor market, in the workforce but also, we think of our role as helping students explore a variety of careers and start to develop those transferable or durable skills that will help sustain them through a career that is going to change from when they enter it to when they retire," Palombit said.

JOCO Works organizers said they are starting to see previous classes who came to the event as middle schoolers enter college and the workforce. At the same time, Johnston Community College is seeing record high enrollment.

"This is our first step in bringing students and getting them accustomed to Johnston Community College," Johnston Community College Associate Vice President of Workforce Development Danielle Kroger said.

Students like 13-year-old Jon Shelton Barefoot dreams of being a sports agent and said he saw a lot of other great options at the event.

"Learning about more things can really help my mind to grow and understand that there's not just one choice out there, there's multiple of them," Barefoot said.

JOCO Works also puts on a mock interview event for 10th graders and offers internship opportunities for juniors and seniors. Many of the same companies at this week's event take part in those as well. The 3,500 eighth graders who visited the JOCO Works expo still have some time to prepare for those opportunities.