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Published online 8/26/2007 12:40 AM

Top students from Class of '97 say careers led them away

By Kristen Roderick - The Hutchinson News - kroderick@hutchnews.com

As a student at Hutchinson High School, Ben Walker liked to argue.

In his senior yearbook, he said, "I love to debate anything and everything possible."

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Fast-forward 10 years, and Walker practices law with Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the top mergers and acquisitions law firms in New York City.

A top-tier student in Hutchinson High School's class of 1997, Walker left town to find bigger and better things.

And there's little Hutchinson can do to bring him back.

Of the top 10 academic students in Hutchinson's 1997 class, nine have gone on to lofty careers in big cities.

One is a postdoctoral fellow in the Burns and Shock Trauma Research Center near Chicago. One is a lawyer in Dallas. One builds life-support equipment for space applications in Tucson, Ariz.

Only one remains in Hutchinson.

The outflow of the most talented students, however, isn't limited to Hutchinson, or even to Kansas.

Across the nation, one in three people move out of county for a job, and the bulk of those are between 20 and 29 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

For Hutchinson and Buhler's top students, career opportunities, recreation or cultural amenities drew them away.

City and business leaders say they want to plug the drain of academic talent from town but concede the solution won't be easy.

Some local officials believe the answer lies in creating an exciting, active community. Others think creating a well-trained workforce and expanding educational programs is the answer.

But most agree that change won't come quickly and that in some cases, there's not much a town can do to bring its top students home after college.

Reno County vs. the world

Lazlo Kulcsar, director of the Kansas Population Center, said most students don't return to their hometowns after college because they find better job opportunities elsewhere.

Young professionals usually make more money in metropolitan areas, and the cities generally have more to offer, Kulcsr said.

"Currently young people have very different aspirations and desires than a generation ago or so, so they may not be completely satisfied with the job opportunities and they leave," Kulcsr said.

Walker is one example.

"I came to New York because I wanted to broaden my horizons, travel and work in a challenging environment," he said.

Attractions are another reason people leave their hometowns, Kulcsr said. They want to be near museums or recreational areas.

Hutchinson graduate Patrick Theissen decided to move to Denver because of what lies just outside town.

"My wife and I love to ski and hike, and for that it's hard to beat Colorado," he said.

Of those who stayed here, family appeared to be the biggest reason.

Hutchinson alumna Katherine Eberly was the sole member of the academic top 10 who stayed in Hutchinson. She said she moved back after college while she was trying to decide what to do with her life and met her husband, John Eberly.

"After we were married, we never considered moving," she said. "I have always been very close to my parents and have enjoyed living near them. Now that I have a son, I realize how lucky I am to live in the same town as them."

Shannon Boor Obermite, a 1997 graduate of Trinity High School, still lives in Reno County. She wanted to be near her family. It's "also a great place to raise a family of my own," she said.

Bringing them home

It concerns Dorothy Barnett that some of Reno County's top students are moving away. So much, in fact, she plans to send them all postcards to welcome them back to town.

Barnett is coordinator of the Reno County 2020 Growth Coalition, a group designed to attract people to Reno County. The goal is to get the county population up to 80,000 by the year 2020. It's now about 64,000.

Barnett said she has noticed people, like Obermite, who come back to Reno County because they want to be near family.

"When they have kids, they want to have that family connection," she said. "We're finding that has been good - encouraging family members to relocate."

As graduates start families, they often return for the good schools and zero commute, said Dave Kerr, president of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce.

"We are seeing a fair number of the 'thirty-somethings' return for the quality of life available here."

Where it stands now

A survey of 56 young professionals conducted by a startup group called the Young Professionals Organization indicated about 55 percent of respondents either grew up here or are "boomerangers," people who left and came back. Roughly 77 percent of respondents said they expected to stay longer than 10 years.

Aubrey Abbott Patterson, co-creator of the professionals group, said a key to attracting young people is to create a place in which they want to live.

"I think the first step is for Hutchinson to listen to what young people want and need to make it an attractive place to live," she said.

Once the people are here, the high-profile businesses will come, said Jim Seitnater, downtown development director.

Seitnater wants to bring a 24/7 feel to downtown Hutchinson, like that of a bigger city. Currently, most downtown businesses close early in the evening.

But a downtown revitalization plan that makes Main Street more pedestrian-friendly and builds more loft apartments are steps toward drawing a younger crowd.

"It would be an exciting area," Seitnater said. "A vibrant downtown would be welcoming to a lot of energy."

The business effect

Kerr acknowledges that the out-migration of the brightest students is a problem.

Many top students go to research universities, and as a result, a lot of high-tech companies develop in those communities where the talent is, Kerr said.

"Everyone wants those high-tech companies, but there are not a lot of them looking for new homes."

On the upside, Kerr said there are plenty of people who were not top students who have gone on to create important businesses and provide jobs for others.

However, the likelihood that a top student will play a business leadership role is probably greater, he said, and he'd like to see more of them return after college.

One possible solution is to get students invested in the business community before they start a career, something Reno County is exploring.

Hutchinson Community College Presidential Scholars are required to perform a 40-hour internship at a local business. Hutchinson school district's Career and Technical Education Academy works to get students connected to the business community early.

The Reno Entrepreneurial Development Institute, a program conducted in cooperation with the Quest Center for Entrepreneurship, trains students to start their own businesses.

And though top students may be leaving, it doesn't necessarily spell doom for the local economy.

Most companies in the area are in a hiring mode and pay scales are edging up, Kerr said.

"In addition to skilled workers, we are seeing companies hiring some very well-compensated management as well. We're trying to build on that momentum."