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CELINA - Nearly 100 seniors enrolled in Tri Star Career Compact programs on Monday experienced the type of star treatment usually reserved for top athletes who commit to play at universities and colleges.

The students sat down for a ceremonial signing and photo session with the businesses that will employ them once they graduate in the coming days. Representatives from about 60 area businesses showed up to welcome the fresh recruits.

"These kids are actually signing for money, a career," said Tri Star Director Tim Buschur.

The students will launch their careers with local manufacturers, body shops, farms, security companies, hospitals, welding shops, metal fabricators, machine shops, nurseries, construction companies, car dealerships, landscape firms, daycare centers, nursing homes, animal clinics and other businesses, big and small.

In many cases, the businesses will pay for the employees to undergo additional training or pursue a degree.

Kevin Olds, a career-based intervention program student, on Monday signed with Pax Machine Works, a Celina-based precision metal-stampings business that has undergone multiple expansions since its founding in 1948.

Career-based intervention is a work-study program in which students are introduced to the growing needs of the local workforce.

"You get credits for working. I worked with Menards for two years, and that's what I did throughout high school until I switched over to Pax," he said.

In the four weeks since working part-time with Pax, Olds has been promoted and will begin training in die washing.

"It's definitely an opportunity I'm willing to take," Olds said.

Pax Machine Works Administrative Manager Jeff Pax said the company has maintained close ties with Tri Star for a long time.

"We were with them from the beginning when they started this new building project," he said.

Mercer County Community Development Director Jared Ebbing watched the proceedings with a sense of pride and excitement, marveling aloud at the promising and often lucrative careers awaiting the students.

"Look at all these different companies here. Every single one of them has pretty much hooked up with a student," Ebbing said, pointing to the likes of Crown Equipment Corporation, which signed 11 seniors; Machine Pro Tech, four students; and Celina Aluminum Precision Technology, two students.

"That's transformative. The next generation sees that by going to school it means something," Ebbing said. "A lot of them will embark on a career and still continue their education."

Tri Star students are mapping more precise pathways toward high-paying and in-demand jobs. And area businesses are increasingly turning to Tri Star for their next generation of workers.  

"They know they're interested. They know they're trained, and they want to basically engage with them as early as possible," Ebbing said.

Tri Star hosts numerous programs, including agricultural industrial technology, animal health, automotive technology, construction, early childhood education, engineering technology, graphic communications, interactive media, information technology, cybersecurity, marketing education, med prep, precision machining, welding and robotic and electronic and computer technologies, Ohio Facilities Construction project manager Anne Frost said during a virtual meeting earlier this year.

Each program has a unique classroom and lab area designed in collaboration with local business leaders, she had said.