For 10 years, MakerFest has connected high school students with local companies and career paths they might not see in a traditional classroom.

"We, number one, want to show that we continue to invest into our youth and the next generation of what we know is our workforce," said Mayor Smith. "And you cannot know what's available for you for a career if you're not exposed to it."

“We're the last line of defense,” Welker said. “We feel strongly that we're here to protect the environment, and it's a complicated procedure, but we're going to explain to them how we use biology to get waste out of water so it can be returned back into the water use stream.”

“We are seeing that 51% of our middle school girls are reporting that they've been cyberbullied,” said Tiffany Hallman, Chief Marketing and Development Officer for the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio. “We're seeing that a lot of our girls are feeling helpless, unsure, not comfortable in STEM, and we see Girl Scouting as an answer to these statistics and to really change some of these outcomes.”

For many, it was also an introduction to 4-H — a youth development program that focuses on building life skills through hands-on experiences. The name 4-H stands for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.

“Our Gen-Next Makers campers will get to experience not only in-classroom activities that expand their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Amber Martin, coordinator of Workforce and Small Business Development, “but they’ll also get behind-the-scenes looks at industries and manufacturers in our community.”

Getting the workforce is the most difficult part of workforce development, but Allen County may have a solution.

Students from as far as Dayton, Piqua, and Bowling Green joined local participants from Shawnee, Lima Senior, and St. Marys to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through interactive labs.