September 11, 2025 - Savannah Robin, Seth DeBolt, Aslihan Spaulding (Kentucky Signature Industries Career Fair)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (September 11, 2025) – What began as a happy accident between two separate career fairs has grown into one of the most impactful workforce development events at the University of Kentucky. Now in its fourth year, the Kentucky Signature Industries Career Fair is welcoming a new major player — agribusiness — to its collaborative showcase of opportunity. 

Hosted by the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the career fair was originally born from a coincidental overlap in scheduling between the college’s Ag Equine Programs and the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits. Rather than competing, they joined forces to highlight two of Kentucky’s most iconic industries — equine and distillation — for a single event that connects students with employers and opportunities they might never have previously considered.

This year, the Department of Agricultural Economics is officially joining the fair to represent Kentucky’s dynamic agribusiness sector, offering students an even broader view of potential careers across the state’s signature industries.

“Kentucky is very rich in agricultural history,” said Savannah Robin, a lecturer in career and professional development for Ag Equine Programs. “Being able to bring on our agribusiness employers is really important. Many of them overlap and cross collaborate…so that just seemed like a really natural fit to bring them all together.”

The 2025 event — taking place September 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Gatton Student Center — is open to students of all majors from across UK and beyond. Last year’s fair drew job-seekers from 12 universities and over 80 different majors, including fields like engineering, business, communication, horticulture, data analytics, and computer science.

“I think you’re crazy as a student if you don’t go to every one of these career fairs you can possibly go to,” joked Seth DeBolt, director of the Beam Institute. “You never really know what you don’t know. You think, “I might not be interested in that career, but…you find yourself in front of a future employer saying “this, this might just change my mind, broaden my horizons…”

In addition to job opportunities, the fair helps students explore internships, mentorships, and career readiness tools — with a new Student Resource Room debuting this year, including resume printing, wardrobe prep, and free professional headshots.

The fair is also a reunion space for alumni now representing their companies — often returning just a year or two after attending as students.

“One of my favorite things [is seeing our graduates] now on the other side of the table,” said Aslihan Spaulding, Department Chair and Professor of Agricultural Economics. “They can see, you know somebody that was in their shoes…I think that’s validating for them.”

On this episode of "Behind the Blue", Robin, DeBolt and Spaulding discuss the evolution of the fair, the strategic workforce development happening inside UK’s signature industries programs, and how UK is helping students discover unexpected career paths while building a strong future for the Commonwealth.

For more information on the Kentucky Signature Industries Career Fair, including student and employer registration, visit Handshake.

“Behind the Blue” is available via a variety of podcast providers, including iTunes and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

“Behind the Blue” is a joint production of the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare. Transcripts for most episodes are now embedded in the audio file and can be accessed in many podcast apps during playback. Transcripts for older episodes remain available on the show’s blog page. 

To discover how the University of Kentucky is advancing our Commonwealth, click here.