Brain Gain in the Rust Belt

Brain drain has long plagued the Rust Belt, and many metropolitan areas, such as northwest Pennsylvania, have also experienced a dramatic drop in population over the past decade. Young professionals, like Sean Fedorko, are returning to northwest Pennsylvania, though, and they’re helping to reverse the trend from brain drain to brain gain. In fact, a recent Manhattan Institute study revealed that most U.S. metro areas that have lost population and jobs have gained in numbers of people with college educations.

In 2011, Fedorko, 29, graduated from Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, with degrees in political science and philosophy. Then, after earning his master’s in public policy from Indiana University at Bloomington, he spent some time working in Washington, DC. While he was in the nation’s capital, he did freelance work in a co-working facility, where he shared office space and a sense of community with other independent professionals.

When a career opportunity brought him back to Erie, Fedorko discovered that there were no co-working facilities to be found there. “They are crucial institutions for vibrant innovation and growth in the tech and small business sectors, so I worked with my cofounder, Bill Scholz [also returning to Erie], to start one.” They opened Radius CoWork in January of 2015. Today, the facility is nearly full.

With a background in IT, Fedorko stays on top of his game by constantly reading and consistently trying out new technologies. He says that although 80 percent of new technology tools never make it into his regular use, the value earned by the 20 percent more than makes up for the invested time and money.

Now that he’s invested himself in northwest Pennsylvania, Fedorko believes the area holds many opportunities for young professionals. “Input costs are incredibly low. If you want to start a business, buy a business, or make a case for why a business should hire you, this is a great place to do it. In places like Washington, DC, young professionals are stacked like cord wood, and it’s difficult to stand out. In northwest PA, you can start, grow fast, and build big while people in bigger cities are inching up the ladder over many years.”

Ann Silverthorn writes about a wide variety of topics in numerous genres. She’s currently working on a biography of William E. Dimorier (1871-1951), a nearly forgotten poet and educator, who dedicated his life to the betterment of young people.

Twitter: @annsilverthorn   Instagram: ann_silverthorn

This story appeared in the October issue of PR for People’s The Connector.