ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Trade skills from across the Lehigh Valley are on full display Wednesday.

Hundreds of vo-tech school students are competing in Skills USA at the Allentown Fairgrounds. 

It’s a full-scale trade competition at Skills USA Wednesday. Students have the chance to move on and showcase their talents at the state level and even have the possibility of going national.

There’s everything from automotive to building construction, criminal justice, cyber security, and even cake decorating.

More than 500 students from across the Lehigh Valley are at the fairgrounds, and there are 62 different competitions happening.

Management says Skills USA opens up so many different career opportunities. The judges all work in the different industries that are on full display, some of whom are looking to hire.

“There is such a need to fill the skills gap for these students, so this is really, I look at it sometimes as kind of a working interview. There’s no other competition in the area like its kind, so we’re really proud to have what we have here. This is our 40th year of running this competition,” said Skills USA Council Andy Hammer.

People who win gold medals Wednesday move onto a statewide competition in Hershey that’s happening in April. If students win at that level, they can move onto the national competition which is being held in Atlanta in June.

Management says this area has had a lot of luck in the past bringing back national medals.

An awards ceremony will be held Wednesday night.