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Lafayette students are becoming much more familiar with the landscape of the local business community thanks to a number of projects formed as a result of teamwork between Lafayette’s Technology Clinic, the Easton Business Association (EBA), and Easton’s Main Street program.
EBA and the Tech Clinic are hosting an Easton Local Merchants’ Fair 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Marlo Room and Atrium of Farinon College Center. The clinic has also played a part in producing EBA’s All Access Pass to Easton.
Update: Lineup Set for Easton Local Merchants’ Fair Nov. 13
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce honored Lafayette with a 2006 Community Partner award in recognition of the College’s collaborations with Easton. President Daniel Weiss accepted the award. “It is immensely gratifying for Lafayette to be honored in this way because it demonstrates that we are making important – and widely recognized – progress in advancing our vision of Lafayette as a leading community partner,” he says. (See the story.)
Approximately 25 Easton merchants – including restaurants, salons, gift shops, arts vendors, and many others – will be in attendance for the fair. Business owners will provide information about their establishments, product samples, and giveaways.
“The merchants’ fair is a great opportunity to improve awareness of the local business community,” says EBA treasurer Paul Luongo. “Not only will it help businesses to increase traffic, but it can also create an interest on the part of students to see what it takes to be an entrepreneur. We are really happy to start seeing this type of relationship form and are overwhelmed by the generosity of the College.”
The All Access Pass to Easton booklets have also contributed toward a closer connection between Easton and Lafayette. 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.
Luongo says the passes, which have been circulating for about three weeks, have already been extremely productive as merchants have seen a great deal of increased student traffic.
“We are exited about the new energy this has produced among the merchants and we want to diminish the perception that Easton is unfriendly,” he says. “We want students to know that Easton is open and there is a tremendous array of establishments available. Businesses owners have been very excited to extend this invitation.”
EBA plans to release a pass once a year in the fall in conjunction with the arrival of students.
“Hopefully this will become something that is anticipated at the beginning of each school year,” says Luongo.
Gary Evans, executive assistant to the President, has helped coordinate Lafayette’s involvement with the pass. He believes this project exemplifies the community partnership initiative in the new strategic planning process being headed by President Daniel Weiss. A key element in the new plan, which is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Trustees in fall 2007, is forming a stronger connection between Lafayette and Easton.
“This lends itself not only to residents of Easton, but to our students as a mutually beneficially project,” Evans says. “It is also a good idea that we are starting work on the initiative before the plan is finalized.”
The Tech Clinic has been focusing its efforts on a revival of downtown Easton and improving campus and community relations. The course’s year-long cycle began last semester and will finish at the end of this semester. Some of the other projects the group is working on are the Ambassador Program, the Artist-in-the-Window Program, and the designing of a website focusing on an entertainment and real estate inventory of Easton. The website will provide an avenue for customers to search for restaurants, galleries, or shops in the Easton area, as well as allow prospective business owners with a look at available locations.
Students enrolled in the course are Tom Harju ’07 (Richardson, Tex.), 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; Karen Ruggles ’08 (Easton, Pa.), an English and art double major; and Lauren Menges ’08, (Vestal, N.Y.), an English major. The facilitators are Larry Malinconico, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences, and Dan Bauer, professor of anthropology and sociology. The group has worked closely with Kim Kmetz, manager of the Main Street Initiative Program, as well as Richard McAteer, vice president of the Easton Heritage Alliance board of directors.
“Our main goal for the project has been to help improve the general aesthetics and quality of downtown and really to make Easton a better place,” says Ruggles. “The Merchant’s Fair will let students know what services are available downtown and help generate more visibility and cash flow for local businesses.”
Members of the Tech Clinic will present their end of year report focusing on their progress with the Easton business community Dec. 14. According to Malinconico, the clinic’s mid-project presentation in May brought many local businesses and organizations together to discuss new publicity avenues, and he hopes the final presentation will have similar results.
Recent Technology Clinic projects have resulted in a walking DVD tour of Hugh Moore Park in Easton, plans to revive the Easton and Phillipsburg riverfront area, recommendations for improving traffic on Cattell Street, and ideas for developing the North 3rd Street corridor at the foot of College Hill in Easton. Other projects include an automobile tour on CD to boost tourism and local awareness of historical assets in Nazareth and its surrounding rural municipalities, a self-guided tour and other enhancements at Bachmann Publick House in downtown Easton, and improvements in the experiences of patients at the offices of doctors within Lehigh Valley Hospital Physicians Group.