A Binghamton University student is the only undergraduate to be appointed to a new coalition tasked with developing solutions for the mass exodus of New York’s young professionals.
Joshua Kay will join 14 other young New Yorkers in a group effort to counter the “brain drain” — an increasingly common pattern of graduates fleeing the area — by making upstate New York more attractive to young people.
“The ‘brain drain’ is a complex issue and cannot be resolved with any one project and will not happen overnight,” Kay said. “It will take continued effort on the parts of various community players over an extended period of time.”
Kay, a 22-year-old bioengineering major at BU, received a phone call from First Lady of New York, Silva Spitzer, in mid-December, informing him that he had been selected for a position on the New York Young Leaders Congress (YLC).
The undergraduate’s efforts toward increasing the retention rate of BU grads in the area — specifically his founding of Catalysts for Intellectual Capital 20/20, a group dedicated to goals similar to those of Congress — led to his selection for the YLC.
“The Congress is working to further develop the ‘I Live New York’ initiative as well as create state-wide collaborations between our respective groups,” Kay said, referring to the group he started and others with similar objectives.
The first lady of New York visited Binghamton University in the summer of 2007 to meet with CIC 20/20.
Spitzer chaired the “I Live New York” summit — an initiative created for the development of strategies aimed at reversing the trends of youths living and working in New York State — to highlight the problems New York State faces in terms of development and the “brain drain.”
Michael Frame, director of federal relations for Binghamton University, will chair the YLC.
Frame, who came to BU over a year ago from the Metropolitan Development Association in Syracuse, was a founding member of 40 Below, an organization comprised of young professionals in the central New York area.
According to Frame, the YLC is tasked to facilitate “livable communities.”
Frame added that there will be a few initiatives taken by the coalition, including a Web portal allowing groups like CIC 20/20 and 40 Below to “interconnect,” as well as the development of a civic engagement program to expand regional marketing.
Another top priority for the YLC is developing a circuit rider project to bring experts like Kay to areas in need and fledgling groups dedicated to keeping young New Yorkers as New Yorkers.
“Different people would travel around the state helping to build capacity,” Frame said.
University President Lois B. DeFleur was appointed to Spitzer’s “I Live New York” Talent Task Force in 2007.
“Recruiting and retaining high quality young professionals is key to the future economic prosperity of Greater Binghamton and the state,” DeFleur said. “Binghamton University can play a major role in this initiative.”
According to a study done by the New York State Department of Economic Development and Cornell University, 303,000 young New Yorkers moved away from upstate New York from 1995 to 2000.
The study also revealed that far fewer young people moved into upstate New York, especially in terms of young adults with four or more years of college.
All Contents © 2006 Pipe Dream.