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For the past year, five students in Lafayette’s Technology Clinic have been forming the foundation for a number of projects meant to increase the visibility and vibrancy of the Easton business community.
On Dec. 14, the students made their final recommendations to representatives from numerous local organizations and officially handed over the reins of the project to the Easton Main Street Initiative, the Easton Business Association (EBA), and the Arts Community of Easton (ACE), the groups the Clinic has worked most closely with for the last two semesters.
Tech Clinic is a hands-on course founded in 1986 that brings together students from different majors to help solve the real-world problems of a business, non-profit organization, or government body.
Students enrolled in the course are Tom Harju ’07 (Richardson, Texas), a mathematics major; George Armah ’08 (Accra, Ghana), a mathematics and computer science double major; Marquis Scholar Danielle Koupf ’08 (Randolph, N.J.), an English major; Lauren Menges ’08, (Vestal, N.Y.), an English major; and Karen Ruggles ’08 (Easton, Pa.), an English and art double major. The facilitators are Larry Malinconico, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences, and Dan Bauer, professor of anthropology and sociology.
“With Tech Clinic, we learn about what it takes to approach a real life situation,” says Ruggles. “Tech Clinic is not a normal lecture hall class where a professor gets up and says you need to memorize this and do this. What we did was sit down and say the problem is “X” and then we approached it through our contacts in Easton and research.”
“There are so many people that really care about Easton and want to see it flourish,” says Harju. “Through Tech Clinic I learned how to problem solve on a large scale. You can do a math problem by just learning x+y, but with this, there are so many factors to take into consideration. I believe this has been an invaluable experience for any kind of work I pursue after college.”
During the spring semester, the students identified a number of goals focusing on revitalizing Easton. These included combating any negative perceptions and misperceptions Lafayette students may have about Easton, finding more tenants to occupy real estate downtown, and maintaining the economic and commercial viability of the downtown business community.
The group initiated four projects aimed at achieving these goals, which included developing a web site for the Main Street Initiative, starting an Artists in the Window program, helping EBA produce its All Access Pass to Easton, and an annual Local Merchant’s Fair held at Lafayette.
The web site will include a comprehensive entertainment listing of Easton businesses and restaurants, an address locator, and a calendar of Easton events. It will help attract visitors, inform residents of upcoming activities, and provide easy access to business contact information.
“One of the things we feel very strongly about is the web site,” says Kim Kmetz, Easton Main Street Manager. “This is where people get their information today. It is harder and harder to do publicity without having an exciting, up-to-date web site and we want people to go to the Main Street web site to get that information. I definitely see this as a big boost for Easton.”
Artists in the Window is an adaptation of a project in Pittsfield, Mass. called Storefront Artists. It allows artists to use vacant store fronts as temporary studio spaces. The program will capitalize on Easton’s growing artist community and help transform the downtown into a vibrant cultural center. Artists or property owners who are interested in the program should contact Kmetz at (610) 330-9940.
“This [program] is a way to draw attention to the vacant store fronts and hopefully recruit new businesses as well,” she says.
The Clinic helped initiate EBA’s All Access Pass to Easton booklets. The incentive-based program provides customers with discounts and giveaways at 66 Easton establishments. The passes have been distributed on campus through the mail and were handed out at the Homecoming football game.
EBA and the Clinic paired up again for the Local Merchants’ Fair in November. Almost 200 students and 20 Easton businesses attended the event, which provided the Lafayette community with a look at the numerous services and products Easton has to offer.
EBA plans to continue both the pass and the fair on an annual basis.
Troy Reynard, owner of The Cosmic Cup and president of EBA says, “I really hope [these projects are] a bridge to get more students to take part in the life of the city. One of things that is enjoyable for me in my business is seeing a mix of college students and community members together, who wouldn’t normally interact with each other. I think it is better for the city and the college to have more of that kind of activity.”
Kmetz agrees that the strong connections being formed between Lafayette and Easton are something to get excited about.
“The fact that Lafayette has taken the step and become so interested in the downtown area and that we have also become so interested in Lafayette, has provided us with so much energy,” she says. “Hopefully the buzz from the students will spread and they will give more of a thought about going downtown, because I think the merchants really want to see more students. We want to become known as a college town. When visitors come to downtown we want them to know they are in Lafayette territory.”