UB leads effort to reverse local "brain drain"

By MARA McGINNIS
Reporter Assistant Editor

UB is making serious attempts to retain and return young people to Western New York in an effort to combat the region's "brain drain" that has left the already lagging local economy without much native college talent.

Leading the effort is Daniel Ryan, director of Career Planning and Placement, who recognizes that workforce development is a top priority for the region, particularly given the effects of fleeing college graduates and retirements while industry expands and investment increases in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

"The University at Buffalo has a commitment to the future of our community," says Ryan. "We realize that it is vital for the success and growth of local businesses to be able to recruit talented college graduates from the area."

Buffalo and Niagara are not the only metropolitan areas that have had trouble retaining native college graduates, says Ryan, noting that such cities as Cincinnati and Philadelphia are facing similar problems.

UB's second annual "JOBSapalooza," to be held Jan. 4 in the Buffalo Convention Center, has goals similar to those of a program in Philadelphia called "Operation Native Talent." Both events are annual regional job fairs featuring local companies that recruit local college and university students-regardless of where they attend college-during their holiday break. Planners hope to increase the chance that the college students might consider working in their hometowns.

The first "JOBSapalooza" held in Buffalo last January attracted more than 75 companies from the Buffalo-Niagara region and about 450 job seekers from 30 different colleges and universities nationwide, despite a major snowstorm, says Ryan. This year, he anticipates more than 100 employers will participate.

But he points out that even with "JOBSapalooza," there remained the question of how students and former residents could access information about opportunities in the area during the remainder of the year, which led to his latest endeavor: http://www.comebacktobuffalo.com.

"Comebacktobuffalo.com is an interactive, electronic effort to urge current students and recent graduates from all over the world who are former Buffalo residents to consider pursuing job opportunities in Western New York," explains Ryan.

The site, which will function as a regional online career-placement office, will list job openings from about 100 area employers and feature an extensive searchable database to which students and graduates can post their resumes. Both job openings and resumes will be posted at no charge.

While Ryan says there are no plans for corporate sponsorship this year, he adds that it may be necessary to seek them next year and, in that case, the income would pay for the software and server hosting, which now is being funded by UB. He says any additional money would be used to market the site.

According to Ryan, it is the only site of its kind in the country that offers a career service, not only to students at local colleges and universities, but to other institutions across the country where former area residents may be studying or working. The site currently is being designed and will be launched in early January following JOBSapalooza. Until then, the service can be accessed at http://www.buffalograds.com.

Working with guidance counselors from 12 local high schools, Ryan determined the 100 colleges and universities that most local high-school graduates have chosen to attend in recent years and is marketing the site to career offices at those institutions.

One of the first steps in the campaign to keep young people in Western New York was the coordination by Ryan of a letter from President William R. Greiner and Lewis D. Rich, vice president and regional director of Empire State Development Corp., that was sent to about 7,200 UB alumni who had graduated in the past 10 years and were residing out of state. The letter outlined a "clear, deep and broad-based need for skilled graduates" in Western New York and attempted to alter perceptions that the area was lagging economically.

The letter reported that Western New York businesses have rebounded in recent years and new businesses have moved into the area, creating an increased demand for skilled and educated workers.

Ryan notes that many UB alumni have the desire to move back to the Buffalo area, but don't think there are ample career opportunities in the region. He hopes that those people will be able to use the Web site to access job opportunities and ultimately settle down back in Western New York.

The comebacktobuffalo.com Web site also will allow UB alumni to link to the university's Career Planning and Placement Office. It is the only local college career office with an electronic Web-based resume service that allows employers to search a database of UB student and alumni resumes, and job seekers to access current job openings via the Internet.