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You are not alone. Now, how to find the others like you? That's where the recently formed Ithaca Forward [iF] comes in. Started by Herb Dwyer and a few newly acquired friends he met through the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, iF is meant to bring together young professionals in an attempt to retain young people - "the future of business" - in the area.
"When I first got here it was very difficult to meet people," Dwyer said, "Yeah, we have gorges and the beauty brings people here, but now we need to have reasons for people to stay, like quality of life and biz opportunities."
While there is no single reason why young people leave Ithaca, Dwyer, who moved here last winter from Rochester, cited several anecdotes of young people he's known who have left the area. Some leave for job opportunities, others for more "friendly" neighborhoods and affordable housing.
"We're not talking affordable housing like $5 a week. We're talking affordable housing like put up a picket fence, have one and a half kids and start a family affordable housing," Dwyer explained.
Another difficulty that some young professionals cite is breaking in to the already established "inner circle" of business professionals. Events like the Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours can be difficult for the new young profession who's trying to meet some new people.
Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Ithaca Dowtown Partnership (IDP), a business improvement district aimed at helping promote business growth in downtown Ithaca, said that if young people are saying this is an issue then it is one, yet the community has the capacity to be accommodating to young people.
"I think the community maybe just has to think more about it as we think about board compositions. We can think about, 'Do we have young adults and not just people who are 45 plus?' We need to give our young professionals an opportunity to shine," he said.
Looking at the Trends
Retaining young people is not a new issue. Cities have been posing the question of how to do this for decades. Dwyer, who worked indirectly with Rochester Mayor William Johnson's campaign while in college, said the cities who retain young people made it a priority a decade ago.
In Rochester, the issue was called the "Brain Drain" and Dwyer said, "Ten years ago instead of having huge corporations, 10 percent of U.S. cities were busy investing in young professionals. Now, 10 years later, they're still in these cities, and the cities with large corporations are failing."
Ithaca is not unique in this problem. It is one that Buffalo has faced, and Rochester and Syracuse face today. Yet, thriving cities such as Boulder, Colo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Portland, Ore., offered incentives to young professionals a decade ago and are today reaping the benefits of a vast array of businesses launched by those same professionals.
"Now Ithaca wants to break into nanotech and biotech industries. We have geniuses at Cornell, Ithaca College and TC3, but they're leaving the area. We need to keep them here," Dwyer said.
Ferguson said that it would be impossible to retain all of the students who come to Ithaca, "and we wouldn't want to. But our goal is to retain as many as we can. We need to make it so the young adults who do stay have an environment they enjoy."
He added that the idea of retention is also happening in Syracuse right now, and it is an important goal all over Upstate New York. "It's a very important goal for Ithaca as so much of our talent leaves after they are done with their education," Ferguson said.
Doug Levine of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce explained that there are numerous studies of the "brain drain" happening throughout New York State.
"The smallest demographics in Tompkins County is 21 to 35 year olds. We have IC and Cornell right here in town with young minds coming through every year. We would like to hold onto another 5 percent of them, to get them to set up roots in Ithaca," Levine said
He added that "never before has there been an organization to help foster relationships with young professionals." And [iF] hopes to fill this void.
Down the Road
As iF continues to grow and become part of the community, its organizers have plans to better Ithaca for young professionals. Dwyer assures everyone that there will be "no cookie cutter events, no meetings, nothing boring. We need to get out of our offices and do stuff, be active."
From midnight networking cruises to speed networking sessions and from wine tasting at the Triphammer Mall to football games at Cornell University, this group is looking to be active.
The group has formed at 15-position board of directors, though only eight slots are filled. They are still looking for leaders who "are the right fit."
"We need to find people who are passionate about doing it, not just adding it to their resume," Dwyer said.
For more information on iF or to attend the gala on Oct. 20, contact Dwyer at mgr3394@fedexkinkos.com or 272-0202 or Sarah Manasse at smanasse@mandtbank.com or 274-8959.
Jill Raygor
