Creating a land of opportunity: Northeast Ohiouniversities say student involvement in business...

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Students attending colleges and universities across Northeast Ohio are aware of the so-called brain drain problem, a widely reported trend of young, educated people leaving the region. So how do you convince students to start and develop their careers or businesses

Simply telling students Cleveland can offer untapped opportunities would be met with skepticism, especially when they hear it from the mouths of established community and business leaders who, understandably, have a stake in promoting the region regardless of its challenges.

But what if skeptical college students experienced for themselves the opportunities in Northeast Ohio? That is a key question many universities and colleges across the region are addressing to sway more young graduates to stay in Cleveland.

"I know the resources and the support are here to succeed in Northeast Ohio, but it's hard to convince 22 year olds of that, unless they experience it for themselves," observes Julie Messing, director of Kent State University's (KSU) Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation.

To experience what Northeast Ohio has to offer, many colleges and universities are opening new channels of business and community opportunities for students to see, and believe, for themselves.

Surveys and studies show that an increasing number of college students are interested in entrepreneurship. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the ranks of the self-employed, which include entrepreneurs, is expected to grow 5 percent annually through 2014.

"Our focus is getting our students prepared to be successful entrepreneurs whether they go to work for a large company as an entrepreneur or start their own venture," Messing says. "We believe their actual experiences in developing the entrepreneurial skills and abilities will help them get there."

To achieve that experiential learning goal, KSU's program includes a business incubator, where students start and develop their companies. Entrepreneurial students also live in the same dorm so that they can regularly study and socialize with others who have the same interests.

"Getting students involved in running their own businesses exposes them to the resources, successful professionals and the support that can help them succeed in Northeast Ohio," Messing says. "Once they know that, once they see and feel it firsthand, it may influence them to stay in Northeast Ohio."

This experiential learning concept led to a new program coordinated by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium, which is made up of seven entrepreneurship centers at the University of Akron, Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University and KSU. Last summer, these universities sponsored the first entrepreneurship experience program / involving 35 students working in teams to create a practical business idea. Five of the seven student teams, Messing says, are moving their business ideas forward to launch new companies. The consortium expects to sponsor this program every summer.

Whether or not experiential learning will help keep more graduates in Northeast Ohio may not be known for several years, if ever. But college officials are hopeful that if even just a few entrepreneurs stay and successfully develop the next big companies, it could potentially spark a new era of economic growth and opportunities.

"What will keep students in the area are the opportunities available in Northeast Ohio," says Karen Schuele, Ph.D., acting dean at John Carroll University's (JCU) John M. and Mary Joe Boler School of Business. "If there aren't opportunities here, they will leave."

In addition to entrepreneurship programs, colleges are expanding internships to get more students involved in the community and with local businesses.

An endowment at JCU, for example, compensates students who work at a nonprofit in Greater Cleveland. The university recently launched another student internship program to pay for summertime internships for students that want to work with groups that address poverty issues. And for the past 10 years, up to 70 percent of JCU accounting students have been hired for formal internships at Cleveland area professional firms.

"These are opportunities available to our students, which allow them to venture into the Cleveland business community and the nonprofit community," Schuele says. "When they make the connection, it can indirectly lead them to decide to stay in the Cleveland area."

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Indeed, the vast majority of JCU accounting students who complete their internships are offered full-time positions by the Cleveland firms for which they've worked, Schuele says. Moreover, more than 70 percent of JCU students employed full time are living in Ohio and 76 percent of those in graduate programs are going to school in the state, according to a JCU survey of its 2006 graduates.

The Williamson College of Business at Youngstown State University (YSU) also has a wide range of internships for its business students. About 45 percent of YSU's business students take internships in the region.

"We know our freshmen business students think they want to leave the area when they graduate, but by the time they are seniors, we know they would prefer to stay in the region," says Betty Jo Licata, dean of YSU's business school. "As they move along in their business curriculum they become more connected to their profession, employers, professionals and alumni. It opens their eyes to the opportunities that are available in Northeast Ohio."

What's more, YSU focuses on events that expose business students to networking activities and sponsors business guest speakers, many of whom are YSU graduates.

"Connecting our students with professionals and listening to YSU grads who are building successful careers send several messages to students, including that there are wonderful job opportunities available in the Youngstown area and Northeast Ohio," Licata says.

While no one knows if these programs, and many others like it, will help stem the brain drain problem, college officials know it will be challenging to change the young skeptical minds who don't have a positive attitude about Cleveland's economic future.

The 2006 Northeast Ohio Barometer of Economic Attitudes, an annual public perception survey of the region's economic development progress, shows that young people in particular are pessimistic about the region's future.

Only 10 percent of people surveyed between the ages of 25 to 34 said Northeast Ohio will be the best place to live in five years, and just 11 percent in that same age group said they were extremely satisfied living in Northeast Ohio.