As the Fall 2023 semester has just come to an end, it is time that I share my thoughts about the Realizing Regional Resilience Pitt ACRI project. To start, I could have never foreseen how connected I would feel to purpose and community from this class. I decided to take this honors add-on course to my Politics of Appalachia Capstone to learn more about Appalachia and to participate in undergraduate research. I left with a deep sense of pride for Appalachia and a county I hadn’t even known the name of. The work my 2023 team did will make a lasting impact on the community as it is, and it will mean so much more as future groups turn our research into action.
To review, our team set out to conduct community-engaged research on economic development in Fayette County, PA. This county was selected for its continued struggle with brain drain, economic underdevelopment, and status as a community at-risk for economic failure. As our team was composed of multi-disciplinary areas of studies, we broke off into four subgroups based on our studies: Political Science, Business, Sustainability, and Urban Studies. I was part of the Political Science cohort, and we created a focus group plan to be used consecutively by future Pitt ACRI groups. My cohort partner and I interviewed Fayette County residents from distinct stakeholder groups, including political figures, business owners, organizational heads, and other residents. This comparative analysis of perceived county assets and concerns revealed that there is some inconsistency with how certain problems were interpreted by the community. For example, generational divides appeared when talking about the labor shortage; older residents tended to see young people as lazy, whereas young residents said the older generation is unwilling to change. There was also different interpretations on the importance of e-commerce and new ways to change small business operation. We noticed common themes, such as the perception of the University as a potential future asset to help economic development. In addition to some other key themes and expressed concerns, the Political Science cohort created an outline to ensure Pitt’s accountability in addressing these issues. We made a series of questioning lines and sample data collection methods under categories such as politics, economic development, and university involvement. We also laid out a plan for how many participants should be included and different tactics for recruitment. By modeling this design from Dr. Richard Krueger’s from the University of Minnesota, we were confident in the validity of this qualitative research design. Our plan was shared and reviewed by our faculty advisor, Dr. Kristin Kantahk.
The other cohorts focused on three separate trajectories: asset map development, the entrepreneurial center, and community prosperity in Uniontown. The Urban Studies students focused on recategorizing the asset map to promote user accessibility to maximize what can be mapped and organized. Future years will continue to modify and share this map with the community for general use. The Business students worked with the Fayette County Cultural Trust to research what community members would like to see at the new entrepreneurial center in Connellsville. In addition to data collected from in-person interviews and online survey, they created an e-commerce Etsy course to be implemented in the next few months! Finally, the Sustainability Capstone group advanced the Celebrate Uniontown project. This project, created by last year’s cohorts, enables high school students as social media managers for a Uniontown Instagram account. They highlight Uniontown events, education, and general pride. The Sustainability group also conducted a survey for Uniontown residents to assess general satisfaction, visions for the future, and assets. All of these trajectories, including the focus groups, conclude the exploratory phase of our research. Next year will mark the first cohort in the implementation phase. These students will use our designs and put them in action, hosting focus groups, entrepreneurial classes, and other interventions. If I could waive a wand and automatically implement one of these interventions immediately, it would be the entrepreneurial classes. Small businesses are such a foundational aspect of the Fayette County economy, yet many business owners expressed difficulties with researching marketing strategies and expanding their customer base. Holding classes within the county to help aleviate these barriers would make a world of a difference for the economy. Empowering residents to invest in Fayette’s future potential is so important, and these classes will assist that.
Before I started this project, I had no idea what Appalachia “meant” to people beyond superficial stereotypes. As someone not from Appalachia who moved to Pittsburgh for school, I viewed Appalachia as rich in natural assets yet poor in economic potential. I also believed their was a lack in diversity on all fronts that stunted cultural and community development. However, this project shattered these conceptions. Appalachia is very diverse in terms of ethnicity, cultures, and backgrounds. Something that I believe unifies Appalachia despite its diversity is its underdog status. The media has portrayed Appalachia as hopeless, with deep poverty and “laziness” preventing any change from occurring. What really is preventing this development is a lack of attention to endogenous development from urban financial powerhouses. Appalachia has suffered from external entities, including universities and researchers, coming in to implement their idea of what is good for the economy without consideration of community desires. I have learned that this is the opposite of effective. Endogenous, community-driven development means investing in the Appalachian underdog and the assets they already posses. It means empowering local politics, stakeholders, business owners, and non-profits. It promotes what the community has spent their hard work and time already developing instead of replacing it. I now have a deep appreciation for Appalachia and Fayette County, and I wholeheartedly believe that Fayette County can rise above the “at-risk” economic status.
When I am old and gray, I am definitely going to tell my grandchildren about this experience. I would tell them, “This is the time where my research was more than a paper, more than a grade.” If my grandchildren go to college, or wherever their futures take them, I want them to know from my lived experience that there is always a way to make a difference in your community. I have been involved in other community service projects at Pitt, like the immigrant tutoring club Keep It Real. What makes ACRI special is how connected it is to a greater regional movement. I started my final semester of college thinking my classes would mean nothing to the greater Pittsburgh-area community. Somehow, I left this semester (and Pitt) by conducting on-site qualitative research at a high school football game, presenting our work at a local restaurant and Washington D.C., and meeting like-minded students dedicated to their community both at Pitt and all over Appalachia. I will definitely tell my grandchildren that it was not as easy as I expected, and their were many nights of Zoom meetings and editing where I questioned if this was worth my time. The best part of the story is how I realized that it all was. I will tell them about the hands I held of older residents as they told me why they loved Fayette County, how they have seen it evolve over the course of their lives. I will recount the pain I felt at The Wall That Heals moving memorial and the joy I felt at the Albert Gallatin homecoming game. All of this passion exists in a place that the world views as an abandoned industrial zone, isolated by mountains and disconnect from progress. I hope by the time I have grandchildren the world will see Appalachia as a valuable region to invest in, but in case that isn’t true, I will make sure as many people as possible know that what they see on TV is not true. If ACRI keeps fostering student involvement like they have been, I really believe that these stereotypes could change.
This course, of course, has been quite different from other classes I have taken at Pitt. I have never left campus for a class before, much less travelled out of the state for it. This class compared to other Pitt courses by using literature reviews and class discussions to gain a baseline understanding of the issues Appalachia faces on their own and with external entities. It also fostered teamwork and collaboration with a group presentation, which other classes use. It differed in almost every other way. This class adopted the philosophy that real learning comes from real problem solving. There were no hypothetical discussions or fake assignments; the application of our learning meant dealing with the living local economy and community of Fayette County. Quite honestly, that is scary to do. There is the lack of security that exists in a classroom, knowing that the only ears are from your fellow Pitt students and faculty. This project meant that my participation was being heard by an entire community that has been historically let down by people coming in and promising to help address their needs. This class emphasized the way we conducted our research to a degree that other classes do not. If you cannot present yourself as a genuinely trustworthy and empathetic individual, this research does not work. Anyone can write a paper and do their research on a computer, but it is another skill to get it from the source. I also learned that a good presentation is not always about a grade. The presentation we gave in Connellsville was the most nervous I have ever been about a presentation at Pitt, and that’s because I saw it as the most important. Grades and GPA’s of course matter, but true value comes from seeing that those you are investing in believe in you too. This knowledge has changed how I plan to address my internship next semester and my career as a whole. I will prioritize the audience of my work at the forefront of my intentions. Change is made through collaboration, not competition.
Thank you for following along with me during this journey. If you are reading this as Pitt personnel, I cannot emphasize enough how important continuing this project is. In three years, we have already done so much to uplift the southwestern PA community. Imagine what we will have done in ten.
Sincerely,
Erin
