Job seekers visited at West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling Thursday to check out opportunities at more than two dozen businesses.

Organizers for the job fair said the event was open to students and alumni as well as the general public.

School officials said they expected more than 200 people to seek out potential jobs, internships and seasonal work. Organizers said the focus is hiring locally.

"I'm just looking for employment, you know, something that's available, easy to work with school," said Kayla Black, a WVNCC student.

Michael Smith, director of Family Connections Brook Place in Wellsburg, was representing one of more than 25 employers on hand.

"To us, it's very important to employ local people, but we want to have good people. And if we need to come clear down here (to Wheeling) to do that, or even try to get local people near us, we want to do that. But it's super important to keep our economy going in our local area of course," Smith said.

According to unemployment numbers released in August, about 6 percent of Ohio County residents are without a job. That percentage is below the West Virginia state average, which lists more than 57,000 people  as unemployed.

Employers and job seekers said they hope the job fair sent a message. WVNCC student Gina Pitts said she thinks people need to be aware of existing jobs.

"It helps a lot of students to get what they need to find a job easier, especially with the economy being down," said Black.

The event wrapped up about 4 p.m,, and students said they hope to hear call backs from employers in the coming weeks.