From left: Kyle Boyles, Cassandra Kaiser, Anne Landon, coordinator of internships and assistant to the director for the Institute for Management Studies, Sarah Foster, Dr. Mehrdad Madresehee, professor of economics and IMS director, Rachael Heaton and Kayla Scott. Sean Berrier is absent from photo.

Six Lycoming students were able to discover the rich economic opportunities in Lycoming County last semester, through research conducted with the help of a professor and a grant awarded by the Susquehanna Economic Development Association-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG). The grant, awarded to Dr. Mehrdad Madresehee, a professor of economics and the director of the Institute for Management Studies at Lycoming, allowed the students to conduct surveys regarding the technological nature of businesses in the area, with the intent of getting the students involved in the area’s economy.

“(SEDA-COG) wanted students to get involved in a project in the area and to see how many good businesses are here,” Madresehee said. Both Madresehee and the students involved agree that this project opened their eyes to the technological possibilities in the county.

“Before this, I was not sure about the opportunities for college graduates in our area,” said Rachael Heaton, a senior economics major. “After (the project) my perception is better.”

Students were chosen for the research team from the economics and the business administration departments. Joining Heaton on the project were: junior Sean Berrier, a business administration and economics major; senior Kyle Boyles, an international studies and economics major with a minor in Spanish; junior Cassandra Kaiser, a business major with minors in communication and philosophy; Sarah Foster, a senior business administration major; and Kayla Scott, a junior corporate communications major with a business administration minor. Madresehee served as project manager, while Anne Landon, coordinator of internships and assistant to the director of the Institute for Management Studies (IMS), was the assistant project manager.

The student researchers, who were broken up into two teams - the marketing team and the economics team - created and mailed out two separate surveys to area businesses and college students majoring or minoring in science- or math-based programs. For the students, the learning process began with this first step.

“I never thought so much work went into making surveys,” Scott said. The surveys were mailed out to about 30 local businesses and 100 students at each of the six selected colleges, Lycoming, Bucknell, Penn College, Mansfield, Susquehanna and Lock Haven. Overall, the students were impressed with the amount of feedback they received.

“People were surprisingly responsive,” Heaton said. By the response deadline, the group had received 192 completed surveys from students and two-thirds of the surveys from businesses. After entering the data into a computer program used for statistical analysis, the students drew conclusions based on the results of their analysis. The conclusions were largely favorable, which surprised some students.

“I didn’t know what people would say,” Boyles said. Madresehee commented that SEDA-COG’s goal is to create this kind of reaction, and get students thinking about the opportunities available to them in this area.

In addition to creating surveys, conducting research and logging data, the students were the subjects of a survey themselves. SEDA-COG, in an effort to calculate how much the students’ perceptions changed during the course of their research, administered a survey before students began working on the project, and another after the project had been completed.

“They want to find out how perception has changed,” Madresehee said. “(They want to see) how students perceive this area.”

The student research team will have a chance to present their findings at two separate meetings this semester. In March, the group will present their conclusions at the Technology Futures Forum, and in April, the students will present to the IMS Board of Visitors, which consists of college officials and community business leaders.

According to Madresehee, the students were very positive about the experience and that part of the project’s success came from the group’s ability to work together well.

“It was a diverse group,” he said. “Everyone did their share and contributed positively.”

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