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How To Compete With The Valley: Step 1 - Stop The Brain Drain
By Rob | June 15, 2007
From the Wall Street Journal comes this great article about Pennsylvania’s efforts to stop their brain drain. It is something that any city should do to have a vibrant startup economy. Keeping the smart well educated people that grow up or attend college in an area is easier than attracting well educated people later in their lives.
…many students take their diplomas and run, leaving Pennsylvania with the third-oldest population in the nation as measured by the number of people 65 and older. The result: The state is struggling to attract the type of cutting-edge companies that would make it a major participant in the “knowledge-based” economy — one driven by highly skilled workers and industries like technology, science and health care.The state is on a mission to change that. Three years ago, Pennsylvania developed a program called Keystone Innovation Zones, or KIZ, designed to do two things: keep the best and brightest college students from leaving and foster the creation of science and technology companies. KIZ has awarded $6 million in grants for research faculty to Pennsylvania colleges, offers $25 million in tax credits annually to new companies and encourages hundreds of firms to extend paid internships to students in the belief that collegians who have worked in the state are more likely to stay.
Will Rogers once said “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” To compete with Valley talent, the first thing to do is stop losing the talent you have locally.
Topics: Ideas |
August 13th, 2007 at 2:30 am
[…] the Valley posted a WSJ article awhile ago which cited PA’s fight to keep young minds in the […]