U. program strives to make city more attractive to grads

The Knowledge Industry Partnership, chaired by University President Judith Rodin, is ambitiously attempting to market Philadelphia as a cultural and historical mecca.

KIP aspires to raise Philadelphia to the caliber of Boston, New York and Washington, in the eyes of prospective and current college students in the hope that they will come to the city and remain here after graduation.

A lofty, but -- according to some -- an achievable goal.

The combination of "the marshalling of strategic people and of creating the will, money, publicity [and] galvanizing resources around this project -- organization, direction and leadership," make it a likely success, said Eugenie Birch, a City and Regional Planning professor.

"And who better to lead it than Judy Rodin," she continued.

Others agree that KIP's success is probable but not ensured. The goal -- to "influence the Philadelphia economy through college students" -- "grew out of a research report, and we are committed to doing research throughout, and we plan to measure ourselves constantly," KIP project manager Annette Mattei said.

"I think it's very worthwhile," said Steve Mullin, senior vice president and principal of Econsult Corporation, a Philadelphia economic consulting firm. "Is there a chance for success? I think yes."

"It's a wise collaboration and wise allocation of resources and efforts," he added.

KIP is a three-tiered effort -- "Arrive. Explore. Achieve." -- formatted to entice students. The first portion entails a widespread advertising campaign to encourage high school students to think of Philadelphia as a college town.

After working with focus groups of high school students, Mattei is confident that the advertising campaign will be effective.

She found that, initially, students "either [had] a neutral feeling about [Philadelphia] or no opinion at all." But after sharing marketing materials, "they were favorably impressed," she said.

"We absolutely have our work cut out for us," she continued.

The second component of the initiative involves improving the quality of students' college experiences in Philadelphia. According to Mattei, "marketing studies of young person populations show that something that's very important to them is recreation." KIP plans to "reinforce the message that Philadelphia does have water."

This effort could potentially be aided by current plans to revitalize Penn's Landing. Jim Cuorato, Philadelphia's commerce director, is heading the second component of KIP and will also have a say in the reconstruction of the waterfront area, Mattei said.

Finally, Penn must combat the city's long-standing brain drain.

"We're working with business associations to help roll out the programs," Mattei said. "We've gotten very enthusiastic reactions from the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce."

"The most important thing for the success of this initiative will be for local employers to create more entry-level jobs, because frankly, it's all about jobs," Penn Career Services Director Patricia Rose said. "It's a good blueprint. It's a good plan for moving forward. We're anxious for them to succeed."

Rose said that for Penn, it's important for some graduates to remain in the Philadelphia area in order for the school to tap alumni resources. But "we are a global university" with students all over the country and the world, and "we think that's a good thing," she added.

"From a state point of view... it's very important to our state economy for people who are college educated to stay."

But as the academic year ends and graduating seniors look to the future, few say they intend to stay in the Philadelphia area.

"Philadelphia is not in my plans," College senior Paul Grumet said. "Philadelphia doesn't offer me the things that other places offer me... Philly's a wannabe New York."

Grumet said that in order to get graduates to stay in the area, city or local universities would have to develop some sort of compensation.

He suggested that the city support graduates by subsidizing their housing, providing them with jobs or helping them pay off loans.

On the other hand, Wharton senior Cristin Dalecki said that though she plans on returning to New York after graduation, Philadelphia "has all of the aspects of the city that I like."

"Philadelphia would just be on the same level as any other city."

And College senior Megan Donavan said that Philadelphia is "definitely a great city for when you want to settle with a family," but not the most attractive city for young people.

"It's close-knit and small," she said. "It appeals, I think, to an older crowd, and there are a lot of activities for little children."

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