Students Conduct Research for BCIDA on Proposed Industrial Park
By Walter F. Fullam, Director of Continuing Education
A “FIELD OF DREAMS” IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT in Bern Township near the Reading Regional Airport. The field in question won’t yield a baseball diamond and won’t involve any Hollywood bright lights or movie stars. But thanks in part to the work of a group of Penn State students, it will however provide something more important: a key to the economic future of Berks County.
The “field” is a 155-acre tract of land, which was purchased by the Berks County Industrial Development Authority from the Reading Regional Airport Authority on June 11, 2011, for the purpose of establishing an industrial park. Creating an economic hot spot has been the dream of Tom McKeon, Executive Director of the BCIDA, and members of his board for more than ten years. Progress has been slowed by the economic downturn of 2008-2009 and a myriad of site development processes, including one involving convincing the Federal Aviation Administration to release the land for non-airport use.
But in fall of 2013, the BCIDA was ready to begin the development process with the search for a firm to conduct a marketing analysis of the property. In addition to the standard site analysis, McKeon and members of his board decided to seek fresh and creative perspectives on how the park might be developed. So they reached out to Penn State to get a group of students involved in the project.
In fact, actually two groups of students became involved in the project: One group consisted of Business majors with a marketing / management option from Penn State Berks, and the second group included students enrolled in the real estate option of the Risk Management major in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University Park.
The Penn State Berks team included Jennifer Sweitzer and Kenneth Whiteman, both seniors in the Business program enrolled in the capstone Strategic Management class at the time. This team
of two worked under the direction of James Shankweiler, Lecturer in Business.
Sweitzer and Whiteman were charged with the task of assessing the feasibility and marketability of the proposed industrial park. To meet that charge, they examined the workforce and infrastructure within a one-hour drive of the proposed park to determine if there existed an adequate number of individuals with appropriate skill sets to meet the employment needs of firms that might locate into the industrial park. The team conducted detailed analysis of primary and secondary demographic data and projected demand for specific skill sets that might be required by firms producing a variety of products and services.
Following weeks of research and analysis, the team presented its findings to the Berks County Industrial Development Authority and other stakeholders. At the conclusion of the project, both Sweitzer and Whiteman remarked that the project was both an exceptional learning experience and an opportunity to return value to the community.
Meanwhile, the Smeal students conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the site, provided insights into the current state of the industrial real estate market in the county, and generated a list of creative development ideas, which included an eco-industrial park, an e-commerce park, and an aero farm.
These student projects generated benefits for BCIDA and students alike. The students delivered to BCIDA a convincing, well-reasoned, data-driven analysis showing that the region can, in fact, meet the staffing needs of firms choosing to locate into the industrial park. They also provided a SWOT analysis of the site, as well as several creative ideas for its use. The students enjoyed the opportunity to apply concepts from their academic courses in a real-world setting. They learned through the challenges of designing their own project approaches, research methodologies, and presentations best suited to the interests and styles of the client. Certainly not least, they learned firsthand that a real-world project for an actual client brings with it expectations and demands exceeding those of a college professor.
McKeon and the board members of the BCIDA were very pleased with how the project turned out. “This (project) was great. The students provided us with a lot of intriguing ideas. We greatly appreciate the partnership with Penn State and the work the students have done.”
Added Becky Wingenroth, Vice-chairman of the BCIDA board, ”I think the students did a superb job in analyzing the situation and making recommendations. We learned an awful lot from the work the students performed.”
Thanks to the contributions of a creative and talented group of Penn State students, Berks County’s “field of dreams” is closer to becoming a reality.