NEW MARKET — As she counts the days to graduating high school, Lauren Wilson has already begun her career.
The North Montgomery senior operates a press printing school datebook images and license plates at Crawford Industries, where she’s committed to working after turning the tassel.
“This might be a starter job or it might be a permanent job. I’m not sure,” said Wilson, 18.
Wilson was among students from the county’s high schools recognized Thursday at the Class of 2021’s Montgomery County Workforce Signing at Southmont.
Students beginning a career, pursuing technical training or joining the armed forces publicly accepted their offers in a ceremony attended by Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton and Indiana Secretary of Career Connections and Talent Blair Milo.
“It goes without saying that nothing has been normal during your last two years of high school, yet your hard work, dedication, persistence have paid off and you are to be commended,” Barton told the students.
An anticipated 1 million jobs will be available across Indiana over the next 10 years, Milo said.“There’s going to be more opportunities than that because of the kinds of growth that we’re seeing,” she said.
In 2020, nearly 300 companies announced plans to establish or expand operations in the state, investing more than $5.6 billion and creating up to 31,300 new jobs, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Here are the students who were recognized and their future plans:
• Cain Galloway, North Montgomery (AHW)
• Noah Craig and Colton Meadows, North Montgomery (Coal Creek Fire & Rescue)
• Lauren Wilson, North Montgomery (Crawford Industries)
• Kimberly Holt, Crawfordsville (Crawfordsville Community School Corp.)
• Evan Francis, Southmont (F.C. Tucker West Central)
• Payton Busenbark, Crawfordsville (Ivy Tech Community College Lafayette)
• Samuel Ellingwood and Blake Gardner, Southmont; Hunter Hutchison and Hayden Norman, Crawfordsville; Mason McCollough, North Montgomery (Lincoln Tech)
• Drew Runyan, North Montgomery (Nucor Steel)
• Nevaeh Lighty, North Montgomery (St. Mary Healthcare Center)
• Dominique Hall and Sidney Robbins, Crawfordsville (United States Army Reserve)
• Alex Cooper, North Montgomery, and Rayna Powell, Southmont (United States Army National Guard)
• Toby Casteel, Southmont, and Ethan Conkright, Crawfordsville (United States Marine Corps)
• Marco Diaz, Southmont (Universal Technical Institute)
• Isiah Gayler, Southmont (University of Northwest Ohio)
• Hunter Conrad, Crawfordsville (Wellbrooke of Crawfordsville)
