BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Wednesday morning local veterans have the chance to meet employers face-to-face for job opportunities.

CSUB's Small Business Development Center is holding their first annual Veterans Business and Career Fair.

The fair is designed to help the local men and women who have sacrificed for our country find work once they're back from the battlefield.

Kelly Bearden, Director of the SBDC, believes this event is crucial, "because of the high unemployment rate for veterans and because far fewer veterans have been starting their own businesses in the past 15 years."

The event will include 20 booths filled with potential employers as well as consultants to advise veterans on how to start their own successful small businesses.

The fair is free for veterans and goes from 7:45am until noon at CSUB's Dezember Leadership Center located at 9001 Stockdale Hwy.