Buckle down fleeing graduates
thejambar thejambar
Issue date: 6/25/09 Section: Opinion
As recent Youngstown State University graduates walked off of the stage with their degrees this past semester, many of them likely walked on to airplanes headed out of state. A recent study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that more than half of Ohio's enrolled college students plan to flee the state for job opportunities after graduation.
One of the main reasons cited in the study was Ohio's lack of growth and innovation in the technology fields, a valid argument as areas such as ours is still stuck in a
low-tech manufacturing mindset.
These complaints aren't going unheard. Efforts are currently being made to help Youngstown and then state move more towards a technology based economy.
This week YSU hosted the Sustainable Energy Forum, a conference discussing ways to turn our area into the "buckle" of the projected tech belt stretching from Cleveland to Morgantown, West Virginia. The focus was to bring the region together in a joint project to research technology development for sustainable energy.
In order to succeed, our region needs to again find its niche in the market, as it did years ago with steel, but take a broader approach so we aren't left devastated if the technology being produced in the valley goes by the wayside.
Development of these new innovations may not convince everyone to stay in town, but if the area starts to grow, we may begin drawing graduates from other states here, essentially turning the trend into our favor on our way to a more stable economy.
One of the main reasons cited in the study was Ohio's lack of growth and innovation in the technology fields, a valid argument as areas such as ours is still stuck in a
low-tech manufacturing mindset.
These complaints aren't going unheard. Efforts are currently being made to help Youngstown and then state move more towards a technology based economy.
This week YSU hosted the Sustainable Energy Forum, a conference discussing ways to turn our area into the "buckle" of the projected tech belt stretching from Cleveland to Morgantown, West Virginia. The focus was to bring the region together in a joint project to research technology development for sustainable energy.
In order to succeed, our region needs to again find its niche in the market, as it did years ago with steel, but take a broader approach so we aren't left devastated if the technology being produced in the valley goes by the wayside.
Development of these new innovations may not convince everyone to stay in town, but if the area starts to grow, we may begin drawing graduates from other states here, essentially turning the trend into our favor on our way to a more stable economy.
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Alum looking for work
posted 6/30/09 @ 4:19 PM EST
Funny how the closer you get to graduation the more honest the Professor speaks. In one of my last classes (a class full of seniors) the Prof. said, the farther away from YSU you look for a job, the sooner you'll find a job. (Continued…)
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