Hello, everyone! My name is Neil Cahill, and I am a fourth-year student at Pitt majoring in Urban Planning & Geographic Analysis with a certificate in Public and Professional Writing and a minor in English Literature. Over my time at Pitt I have been very involved with community engagement and community engaged research especially through Complete Streets at Pitt, the University’s student-run transportation advocacy group.
I am very excited to continue my engagement work through the ACRI program! I will be working with two entrepreneurs in Fayette County hoping to begin their businesses in the real estate industry. One of these entrepreneurs hopes to fill a potential gap seen in commercial warehouse space within Fayette County while the other hopes to expand upon her property management independent contracting and grow into its own business. These are two industries I am not very familiar with, but I look forward to being able to learn and grow my understanding of them in the coming weeks. The opportunity to have a tangible impact in the community and helping to clear a visible path for potential business owners is important to me. As our professors Bryan and Kris have reiterated, the importance of local businesses in rural areas cannot be understated. These communities survive and thrive with their local businesses, and if I can help in any way, I will do my best. I hope to provide some more clarity to these entrepreneurs and give them insight into current conditions and how they can best approach starting their potential businesses.
Beyond graduation this coming December I hope to continue working in the community engagement field. I have had countless positive experiences in the classroom, in extracurriculars, jobs, and internships related to working with local communities, and I want to ensure that I can continue to “get my hands dirty” and work with communities to meet their needs and wants. I believe that the work with the ACRI Project will give me a new lens with which community engagement can be done. I have had no prior business planning experience, and gaining this skill will greatly help me gain understanding into local economic development especially in rural areas.
I joined this project because of the many opportunities it can potentially provide for me and my future but also for a chance to give back to a region I have loved for so long. Obviously, this course teaches me important skills such as client-contractor relationships, data research, economic development, and information about business planning, but it also brings me in closer connection with Appalachia. Growing up, my family would regularly drive down to a small town in Maryland for a family gathering only about two hours away from Fayette County. Spending so much time among the hills, forests, valleys, and streams of Appalachia made me appreciate the uniqueness of the region and appreciate its beauty, strengths, and changes while also understanding the many challenges and threats these rural communities face.
Over the coming months, I look forward to growing in my understanding of and appreciation for Fayette County and Appalachia as a whole. This project builds upon years of research, and I am happy to contribute my part in this great partnership between the Frederick Honors College, ACRI, and Fayette County.