"It's obvious the kids really enjoyed this," said Secretary of Transportation, Jimmy Wriston, P.E. "I think it's just so important for our agency to be connected to the local levels, and as you can see we've already begun recruitment early."
WVDOH has a long history of investment in West Virginia families; participating in career days, bridge tours and, for 22 years, hosting the West Virginia Bridge Design and Build Contest for middle and high school students statewide. The agency sponsors conferences with the five major engineering colleges in West Virginia each year, hosts Co-Op students in multiple disciplines each summer and works to bridge the gap between school and meaningful employment opportunities statewide.
 At the "Safety Palooza," held in the parking lot of the Mountaineer Mall in Morgantown, "Touch a Truck" was made a big, loud impression of children and families.
WVDOH's focus on education does not stop once employees are hired. With educational reimbursement available for employees pursuing advanced degrees, increased focus on training, implementation of the Classification and Compensation Career Plan for all West Virginia Department of Transportation agencies -- including not only WVDOH but also Division of Motor Vehicles, Parkways Authority and the new Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities, Secretary Wriston encourages employees to work together to reach the goal: to be the best educated Department of Highways in the country. 
For transportation workers like Zack Murphy, October 22 was a Saturday well-spent.
"It was fun, you know, positive vibes," said Murphy. "Kids love coming out, touching the trucks, and maybe, some day, if we influence them today, maybe later on they'll have a good career at Highways." West Virginia Department of Transportation has quality career opportunities statewide in many diverse types of career. Interested applicants can visit transportation.wv. gov and click on the Careers tab for active listings today. Since January 2022, WVDOT has hired 809 people statewide.
"We have opportunities available for motivated West Virginians who want to make a difference," said Wriston. For the agency with a "can do" attitude, it's all about having the vision to do what you can for your home state each day; as good things set in motion today continue to grow tomorrow.
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