Chamber is looking for ways to stem the brain drain

When Kevin Rose enrolled at Wittenberg University four years ago, he never expected to remain in Springfield after graduation.

By DIANE ERWIN, News-Sun Staff Writer

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Thanks to Webb Brown of the Montana Chamber of Commerce http://www.montanachamber.com for passing this along. What can your city or state do?- Russ

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But 23-year-old Rose, a history student from Montpelier in northwest Ohio, was offered a job he couldn’t refuse: being a historian with the Turner Foundation.

"I was that one in a million who had what the foundation needed," he said.

College graduates are more likely to remain in the area if they can find a job in the community, according to a study by the Springfield-Clark County Chamber of Commerce.

Of 1,052 students surveyed at eight area universities, 59 percent said a career would keep them in the area after graduation. However, 90 percent of the students said they had only minimal knowledge of local job and career opportunities.

Included in the Chamber study are survey and focus group results from Clark State Community College and Wittenberg, Antioch, Cedarville, Central State, Urbana, Wilberforce and Wright State universities. About 10 percent of each university’s student enrollment was polled, said Kathy McPommell, the Chamber’s vice president.

The Chamber received an $86,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development to study reasons that would keep students in the area after graduation. The study was co-sponsored by London-Madison County, Urbana-Champaign County and Madison County chambers of commerce, the Greene County Department of Development and GreeneWorks.

College internships also may convince students to stay after graduation, McPommell said. A grant from the state development department to help fund 22 student internships, which the chamber received last week, will help, she said. In addition, a job and internship fair is scheduled for April 6 at the Nutter Center at Wright State.

Half of the students completing surveys at Wittenberg were area residents before attending Wittenberg, but 58 percent of all respondents said they would remain if they had a career here.

The variety of restaurants and nice people ranked at the top of Springfield’s selling points, according to the survey. At least half of the students listed the lack of stores and the amount of crime as a negative.

Currently, 10 percent of Wittenberg’s 2,200 students are from Clark County, including 7 percent from Springfield.

Wittenberg indirectly encourages its students to remain in the area by requiring 27 hours of volunteer work before graduation, said Judy O’Connor, assistant provost for off-campus programs. This allows students to create roots in the community and make contacts that may help them find employment, she said.

"It’s something that (could) lead to a full-time job or encourage them to stay," O’Connor said. "It makes them familiar with what Springfield is all about."

Even if students leave the area after graduation, this connection to the city may bring them back in five or 10 years, she said.

Finding employment in this economy is tough for some students, said Mary Patton, director of career services and community outreach at Clark State. A lack of jobs may force students to look away from Springfield, she said.

"Students who may like to stay, may not be able to," Patton said.

Clark State students find the location to be the biggest plus. The survey results show that 80 percent of Clark State respondents were from the area, and 76 percent said a career would keep them here.

Patton attributes the discrepancy to the ages of the students surveyed. Younger students may be eager to try something new, she said.

"Younger individuals are looking for a different environment than individuals who are a little older," she said. "The lifestyle in Springfield lends itself to a family environment rather than a young and single environment."

Springfield has more activities now than when he came here four years ago, Rose said. The city is on its way to create more activities and destinations to convince graduates to stay, he said.

"There’s not many opportunities for those in their 20s or late 20s now," he said. "(Springfield) doesn’t have it now, but it’s getting there."

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