Keeping the best and brightest at home

By: Andrew Berry

Special to The Vindicator

College graduates in Allentown, Pa. don’t have to look far to find employment opportunities.

Even though Allentown suffered a fate similar to Youngstown following the collapse of the steel industry, the city is working to retain students from its local colleges by giving them a reason to stick around.

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners has helped revive the Allentown area by taking advantage of its six full-time private colleges and moving the city away from its former dependence on steel. The Ben Franklin Technology Partners have been trying to “professionalize” the area with a strong reliance on technology.

The state-funded economic development initiative serves 19 counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The initiative assists new, technology-oriented companies and links them with funding, people and several additional resources.

The initiative has a large human resource in the number of private institutions of secondary education located both in and around the city. Muhlenberg College, Cedar Crest College and the Lehigh Valley College have a combined enrollment of 4,694 students living within the city.

Outside of the city, Lehigh University is located eight miles from Allentown with an enrollment of 5,725. Two community colleges, Northampton Country Area and Lehigh Carbon, are also located within 11 miles of the city with a combined enrollment of 5,273.

Laura Eppler said she believes the initiative is achieving its goals and said it is apparent that converting to a technology infrastructure was crucial when the region realized it could no longer depend on steel to fuel prosperity in the Lehigh Valley area.

Eppler, director of marking for the BFTP administration, believes the initiative has been a huge factor in the revitalization process.

“We have been a significant player in building and lifting ourselves out of steel and turning ourselves into a high-tech area on the grounds of where the steel industry once stood,” Eppler said.

“It’s like the community pulled itself up by the boot straps when they knew steel wasn’t going to work anymore.”

Since the initiative began in 1983, it has helped start 366 new companies and create 11,648 new jobs for local workers.

The metropolitan area includes the headquarters or main plant locations for numerous major corporations, including Mack Trucks as well as Fortune 500 companies Air Products and Chemicals, and PPL Corporation.

The headquarters of the BFTP is on the athletic campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, a location that Eppler said matches no other.

“It has been invaluable to have close contact with students,” Eppler said.

While the initiative is able to take advantage of university-based resources, Eppler said the students themselves may be the key resource to revitalization.

Alyssa Ellowitch, senior assistant of admissions at Muhlenberg College, believes that the work done by the initiative in the Lehigh Valley is making it easier for more college graduates to stay in Allentown.

“Where we are in Allentown, it’s a little different than schools in Bethlehem where the height of the industry used to be,” Ellowitch said. “I think the big draw for us is that there are a lot of opportunities to get out of the classroom and get some professional experience and meet people in the area.”

Many students complete course work by working directly with businesses in Allentown. Broadcasting students are involved frequently with hands-on work at local radio stations while art students present galleries and work with exhibits in the city’s museums. Infusing regular class activities with future employers gives Muhlenberg students an experience advantage heading into internships.

Since Muhlenberg guarantee’s housing for four years, Ellowitch said there is no reason not to live on campus where she believes students have an easier time assimilating into the city’s workforce that is being bolstered by the initiative.

“There’s a lot more professionals in the area now and that has really grown in the past 10 to 15 years, at least since I’ve been here,” Ellowitch said. “There are a number of alumni who stay in the area once they graduate.”

Ellowitch said the population of Allentown is “getting younger and more sophisticated.” She said that because of the number of chemical companies, power companies and financial firms in the area, there are a lot more people staying in the area who have four-year degrees, master’s degrees and Ph.D.s.

One of the main focuses of the Ben Franklin initiative is getting college students to work directly with its clients. Ellowitch said that the increasing number of technology-based companies in Allentown makes it a great place for internships.

Todd Pilipovich, assistant director of admissions at YSU, doesn’t feel students in Youngstown have the luxury of job-growth similar to those in Allentown.

Familiar with the BFTP initiative, Pilipovich agreed that having more students living on campus or in the city itself could help Youngstown turn itself around. With less students commuting back home right after class, Pilipovich believes the Allentown-model of creating jobs with college graduates already familiar with the surrounding city could work the same way for Youngstown.

When asked if incoming college freshman might be turned off to the idea of living on campus, Pilipovich said that students need to make the effort to find out what the city is all about.

“Perception and reality are two different things,” Pilipovich said. “There are parts of every city that people avoid. Downtown Youngstown is not what it used to be back in the ‘80s and generally I tell people they have to see it for themselves.”

Pilipovich said that if students took the time to explore beyond the campus borders, they would find it is “cool” to live on campus.

But incoming YSU freshmen have to tour the city on their own time. Working students give tours from the Center for Student Progress and do not stray off of the campus. Pilipovich said he stresses to every potential student and family to explore the city while in town for campus visits.

“Are the jobs here right now? No, but the initiative in the Lehigh Valley is the perfect model to follow,” Pilipovich said.