Greater Spokane Incorporated and its Manufacturer's Roundtable committee will host the first annual Inland Northwest Manufacturing Expo on Oct. 11 and 12 at Spokane Community College.

Manufacturers and suppliers from Washington and Idaho will get the opportunity to showcase their products and connect with other businesses during the two-day event, and a trade show will be featured both days of the expo. Potential employees, including high school and college students, are invited to attend Oct. 12 to learn about job and career opportunities in the manufacturing industry here.

Attendance is expected to be in the 300 to 400 range, says Rick Pickel, sales manager at Haskins Steel Inc. and chairman on the committee for the expo. He also anticipates visitors from outside Spokane. The purpose of the expo is to make manufacturers more aware of the resources available locally.

"The attendees will learn about all the services available to them in the local area to promote outsourcing locally, to encourage more manufacturing businesses to look at Spokane when considering somewhere to locate, and for the future work force to consider manufacturing jobs for their future," Pickel says.

Fifty booths will be available for $300 each, and 10 event sponsorships are available at $500 each. Sponsorship includes a booth and additional print advertising for the company, Pickel says.

The expo will be in SCC's new $24.5 million Stannard Technical Education Building in the northeast part of the school's campus, which was completed recently. A ribbon-cutting and grand opening for the building at 10:30 a.m. will coincide with the second day of the expo.

A dinner, networking, and awards program will be presented at The Davenport Hotel the first night. Booth-holders will receive two tickets to the dinner, and sponsors will receive four tickets. The dinner is $50 for others. Manufacturer's Business of the Year awards will be presented by the Association of Washington Business.

Bill Hickey, president of Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp., in Chicago, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner. In addition to managing Lapham-Hickey Steel, he lobbies for Metals Service Centers Institute in Washington, D.C., and holds an appointed position with the U.S. Department of Commerce. He will speak on the state of manufacturing.