Our Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) cohort had the pleasure of doing a site visit to Fayette County over the first weekend of October. We stayed at Touchstone Center for Crafts, a crafting center as well as a campground. We were able to visit a number of interesting places, such as the Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Company, the Coal and Coke Heritage Center and a football game at a local high school. We also took a tour of the Connellsville Canteen, which is a central part of the Fayette County Cultural Trust (FCC), a program that encompasses a number of community growth centered groups. The canteen is a robust community center which includes multiple class offerings for lifelong learning, a museum on Native American artifacts, a black box theatre, a large collection of World War II artifacts and even a highly detailed train model of Connellsville. 

This community center is certainly a strong example of a community asset. Our cohort was able to meet a lot of our business owners and other members of the community through a luncheon held at the center. I sat with Mr. Jeremy Molinaro, a police officer in Fayette County and also the owner of Footprints Academy LLC, a business which I will now also be assisting with research. I was extremely impressed by the numerous positive reviews and direct messages he and his wife had received about their business, which he showed me with great pride. I think this also adds to the idea that a community asset of the county is simply the community itself. People within the community were willing and desired to reach out directly to Mr. Molinaro to spread positive feedback and explain how their childcare center had positively impacted their and their children’s lives.

Mr. Molinaro, and other business owners present at the Canteen, also strongly valued the STEPP Forward classes that are offered through the FCC. STEPP Forward stands for supportive training, entrepreneurial education and partnership pathways, and the program provides business classes to business owners like Mr. Molinaro. Upon completion of the classes, the businesses are able to apply for grants to further their growth. 

I thought this was a mutually beneficial and clever way to increase economic growth in the area, and also support lifelong learning. The county has prominent tourism destinations that result in economic growth, but most visitors fail to recognize the county itself. For example, I have been to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and Kentuck Knob within the county, but had not remembered the county. Upon visiting with my cohort, I was surprised to learn that there was quite a lot of significance to the county besides just Frank Lloyd Wright. For example, 1936 Olympian John Woodruff was from the county, as was George Marshall of the post World War II Marshall Plan. The C&O Canal, a staple from my home in the D.C. area, is a part of the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage Trail) that runs through the county’s heart. The knowledge that so much time and care is being put into growing local businesses today in a place that was very prominent historically brings me a lot of joy. It represents continued care for a place, something which the people living there are clearly very proud of. It also makes the history major in me very happy.

Going off of this, I believe there is a lot of room for growth in tourism within Fayette County, because the name of the county itself is not widely recognized amongst people who may be visiting the area. Things like the Connellsville Canteen could offer tourism opportunities, especially since it includes a coffee shop, theatre, and a few museum-like attractions, but it was not advertised from the street as something a visitor might attend. Even the Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Company, a one of a kind attraction, was very poorly advertised, and was unknown even to the members of my cohort that were from Fayette County. Creating a more tourist-friendly atmosphere within the towns of Fayette County would almost certainly lead to higher economic development. 

Speaking of cohort members who were from Fayette County, I received a lot of insight from these members about the FCC, and how their programs seemed to center on Connellsville, especially with the Connellsville Canteen. Though the entire program is undeniably a wonderful and progressive initiative, it does not ensure equal amounts of growth and attention across the county. For further research, I believe it would be beneficial to my cohort to look into other community centers and hubs within Fayette County that have a main focus on communities besides Connellsville. This would give us a more well-rounded view of community assets across the county, and how far reaching the FCC truly is within Fayette County as a whole.

In our course readings, we have discussed a lot about what a successful service learning project can look like. I believe that our cohort did a good job implementing elements from these readings, such as going in with an open mind and making sure to get the perspectives of multiple different viewpoints. Specifically we discussed in class how mere contact with communities in service learning is not enough, and one needs to have equal status, common goals, intergroup cooperation, and institutional support within said community. I am very proud of how the University of Pittsburgh is committed to lifelong learning programs within the county, which I believe represents an ‘institutional support’. Our cohort is also working towards a common goal of enhancing opportunities for our individual businesses, and we are each working in equal status with business owners to make sure they are receiving research that would benefit them the best.

Following this visit, I believe the next steps for the project are to continue being in close contact with our partnered businesses and continuing to work on individual research for them. My cohort is also more readily able to continue making a generalized informational document for the perusal of our businesses, which includes in depth economic information about the county. We are able to use our personal experiences to see the impact of certain sectors of the economy within Fayette County, such as tourism and higher education, and thus include more research regarding these topics. Most importantly, the site visit enabled our cohort to create stronger connections with the location. Having personal experience in the county, and with business owners, makes me feel an even stronger desire to see through with our research, see my assigned businesses grow, and see a positive impact in Fayette County.