UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Penn State New Kensington faculty and staff volunteered Sept. 11 for a "Day of Caring" event to help revive western Pennsylvania communities. "Day of Caring" is a program of the United Way of Westmoreland County.
The campus was one of numerous volunteer groups that assisted local agencies on the 14th anniversary of the infamous day in 2001. Sept. 11 is also a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
“With it being 9/11, it was something I thought was good to do for the community,” said Candee Christy, administrative support assistant for the chancellor and one of seven campus volunteers.
The group of faculty and staff went to the Valley Points Family YMCA in New Kensington to assist with an interior painting project. They painted the conference room, hallway and cardio room. Utilizing volunteers for the work allows the YMCA to concentrate its resources in other areas, such as youth development.
“I think it's important that we give back because we're nonprofit and they're nonprofit, and I think it's good we all help each other,” said Karen Harlan, multimedia specialist at the campus.
The New Kensington campus volunteers were: Corinne Coulson, enrollment services specialist; Stephanie DeMaro, regional job and internship developer; Deborah Strickland, instructor in nursing; Bonnie Godfrey, administrative support services; Colleen Smith, outreach coordinator; Christy and Harlan.
“I'm just happy to get involved in the community and with people on my campus,” said Smith, a resident of Butler.
Campus and YMCAWorking with the YMCA is becoming a ritual for the camps. During the spring semester, three graduating seniors -- Eric Bennardo (Communications) of Apollo, Regina Cherish, (Communications) of Kittanning, and Craig Synan, (Administration of Justice) of Hampton – received hands-on experience in the “real world.” Their senior project for their 400-level Public Relations Methods class was to create a public relations/communications campaign for Valley Points Family YMCA. The goal was to boost membership recruitment and retention.
The students worked with Mike Newell, chief executive officer of Valley Points, and Cindy Elliott, director of associate advancement, to formulate a plan for the nonprofit organization. The Y offers a wide range of activities, but youth development and social responsibilities were at the forefront of the plan.
The students proffered their solutions to YMCA executive board members at a formal presentation on April 29 in the campus Forum Theatre. Along with Newell and Elliott, the YMCA contingent included Howard Baybrook, chair, board of directors; Vickie Kolakowski, director of operations; Crystal Smicik, senior program director of youth development; Danyelle Hooks, early learning readiness supervisor and school age enrichment site director; and Janet Casper, volunteer. Also in the audience were members of the campus community.
“The Valley Points Family YMCA was very receptive to a majority of our recommendations, and the campus faculty, staff and advisory board members thought it was a good presentation as well,” said Bennardo, who earned an award for the highest grade-point average among seniors in the communications program. “My favorite part of the evening was the Q&A session. Every member of the team had something to contribute, and the audience seemed very impressed with our responses.”
Poverty initiativesChancellor Kevin Snider, who assumed the campus leadership role in 2008, has made combating poverty in the region as one of the key initiatives of his vision for the campus. Fighting poverty is one way to help foster economic development and create jobs in the local community.
“I feel pretty strongly about trying to help this area succeed, and I think addressing the issue of poverty is probably one of our biggest issues right now,” Snider said. “How we deal with that affects so many more people than just those living in poverty.”
Last year, Snider created a campus Poverty Committee tasked with collaborating with nonprofit organizations to assist with poverty-related programs. Understanding the scope of poverty in local communities was the focus of the inaugural “Poverty Summit” last fall at the campus.
More than 40 community leaders and nonprofit organization members joined faculty and staff to learn more about the poverty in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Through a series of presentations, participants learned about issues faced by individuals and families on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.
“Raising awareness and developing an understanding of what causes poverty is the first step in a long journey to address this issue,” Snider said. “We took a long stride forward by learning about the extent and character of poverty in our region and the ways in which it affects us all.”
AKEG and entrepreneurshipsAlle-Kiski Economic Generator (AKEG) initiative is a collaboration of students, faculty and campuses working with businesses and communities across the state to improve the lives of Pennsylvanians. Snider wants to develop downtown New Kensington to serve as an incubator for innovation and small business development. Community and regional partners, such as Bridgeway Capital, Idea Foundry, and Riverside Center for Innovation have pledged their support in developing the city and surrounding areas.
Snider envisions AKEG creating modern meeting and office space within the area. The designated sectors will accommodate programming and training, and will serve as a regional gathering place for campus faculty, students, as well as entrepreneurs, funders, and the business community. Companies will be able to utilize the space to meet clients, hold retreats and host seminars. The campus community will have opportunities to network and develop ideas with community partners.
The chancellor was interviewed Sept. 12 by Chad Amond, host of the “Westmoreland County Chamber Business Journal” program on WCNS 1480 AM. The chancellor talked about AKEG and entrepreneurship opportunities.
AKEG is funded by a $50,000 grant from Invent Penn State, a new program that brings together Penn State’s intellectual resources, alumni, private and public businesses and investors to support the efforts.
For more about AKEG, visit http://www.nk.psu.edu/46240.htm
Model incubatorsIn July, Snider led a contingent of 25 community members and campus staff on a tour of entrepreneurial centers in Pittsburgh. The group visited AlphaLab, Beauty Shop and TechShop. The three entrepreneur centers offer a variety of services, such as access to resources and multiple locations that give start-ups the freedom to focus on their businesses.
“Pittsburgh is making real progress in facilitating the infrastructure needed to bring entrepreneurs to the area, and it is beginning to turn areas around,” Snider said. “One of the of areas is East Liberty, which is home to three potential partners who can really help us in our efforts on our project.”
Invent Penn StateThe New Kensington campus was one of six Penn State campuses to receive seed funding from Invent Penn State. The other campuses are Abington, Erie, Harrisburg, Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre. Penn State President Eric Barron committed $30 million to build the entrepreneurial pathways needed to cultivate ideas into young and prosperous companies. The idea is to involve students, faculty and community members in generating ideas, then helping to kick-start those ideas into promising new companies.
“We’ve been building partnerships with our University, community and the Pittsburgh region to bring resources to the valley that will help drive economic development and growth,” said Snider. “This funding, along with President Barron’s focus on building entrepreneurial pathways in communities, is the spark we need to get that effort up and running.“
Barron wrote about the Invent Penn State program in an op-ed piece June 26. Building the community has been the focus of the President’s first year at the helm. It is one of the six imperatives he unveiled last year.
“The Invent Penn State investment is designed to help Penn State turn its $800 million-plus research engine into a real driver for job creation, economic development and student career success,” Barron wrote. “This initiative is statewide and includes a wide range of incentives, rewards and strategic investments.”