ALLENTOWN DIGITAL DISTRICT: HIGH TECH RECRUITING AND RETENTION SUCCESS
Working under a grant secured by Pamela Varkony, Co-chair of the Allentown Digital District Steering Committee, the Digital District's Education Committee and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Entrepreneurship has created EUREKA!, a successful student recruiting and retention program for the Lehigh Valley.Monday, February 4, 2002 10:37 AM
Working under a grant secured by Pamela Varkony, Co-chair of the Allentown Digital District Steering Committee, the Digital District's Education Committee and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Entrepreneurship has created EUREKA!, a successful student recruiting and retention program for the Lehigh Valley.
The EUREKA! program begins by recruiting local companies, and then identifying exciting and challenging student projects at those organizations. Muhlenberg College students, largely from the Entrepreneurial Studies Program, are mentoring students from the Allentown School District. The college and high school students form teams and work with their EUREKA! business partners to find creative solutions to the projects.
"We believe the level of local involvement and support we've received, demonstrates the project is right on target," said Varkony. "Arista Biologicals, Bio Med Science, Fastnet, AniMotion, Just Born, Micro Publishing, Benchmark Analytics, and Applied Separations all have teams of college and high school students."
"Until I began working with Fastnet, it never even occurred to me to consider a career in Allentown," said Muhlenberg senior Marah Ritchey, "but with a web project up and running, I think this may be the place to be!"
"One of the most difficult problems facing high tech companies is recruiting and retaining new employees," says Gerald Whartenby, Director of the EUREKA! project. "Studies in Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta have shown that few graduating high school and college students think about job hunting in their school's location. High tech development depends in part on showing these students the advantages of building their careers locally."
The projects include web development, pre-clinical medical research, new product development, graphic design, and textile experimentation.
The EUREKA! project is intended as a model for retaining college and high school students as eventual Digital District employees. Other area colleges will be invited to join the project in future years. Training and developing local talent and keeping high-quality workers is also a goal of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), a partner in the Digital District program.
The EUREKA! project is just one piece of the Digital District, which was launched in March 2001, when State Secretary of Economic Development Sam McCullough delivered a $500,000 grant to kick-off the initiative. The Digital District is a cooperative venture between the LVEDC, Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), Muhlenberg College, local businesses and the Allentown School District. Courses in computer programming, web design and computer animation are also part of the Educational Development Initiative.
The other goals of the Digital District include developing a tech-friendly business community in the downtown area as well as fostering an overall high-tech environment for business and economic development in the region.
Note: Allentown high school students interested in joining teams, and anyone interested in more information, can contact Gerry Whartenby, [email protected], 484 664 3674
