ONEONTA _ Leaders in the area's business community met Wednesday with scores of students who they hope may be the local leaders of tomorrow.
In a symposium designed to fight "brain drain," students heard from six professionals who have successful careers in upstate New York.
And the adults heard from students about what it might take to keep them near their hometowns.
Fifty-nine students from 22 schools in Chenango, Delaware, Greene, Schoharie and Otsego counties participated along with 60 adults.
Rob Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the Otsego County Chamber, said "brain drain" is happening across upstate New York.
"No one is disputing the fact we are losing the key to our future," Robinson said. "It is our future that is walking out the door."
Studies have shown that 20 percent to 30 percent of young New Yorkers leave for what they perceive to be greener pastures, Robinson said.
Alyssa Fane, 17, is a senior at Roxbury Central School who said it is unlikely she would return to her hometown after college. This is typical of her college-bound classmates, she said during a working lunch at the symposium.
"The ones who go to college probably won't stay," Fane said.
Fane, who hopes to study journalism at college, said it's unlikely she will return to the area unless it is to a second home or when she retires.
The world outside Roxbury beckons with more opportunities and more entertainment options.
"To see a movie you have to drive an hour," Fane said.
Across the table, Caitlin Morrison, 17, said she was unlikely to stay in the Windham area because of the "grass is greener on the other side" theory.
But the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School senior said she would probably stay in the Northeast.
Although she said she is eager to move out of her rural hometown, she is less inclined to head for the big city lights as she hopes to pursue a career in neuroscience or chemical engineering.
"I don't want to go to a huge city," Morrison said.
Daniel B. Swift, former publisher of The Daily Star, said it is natural for young people to leave their hometowns to seek their fortunes.
But the skills and talents young people acquire in their early professional careers can be great assets in their hometowns.
The trick, he said, is getting them to return.
"We don't know how to do that," Swift said.
One way may be to concentrate on making their high school years positive and fulfilling, he said.
That way, when they are at the stage in their lives were they are settling down to raise a family, they may consider doing so in their hometowns, Swift said.
One observation that came from high school students regarded their feeling of self-worth coming from a mostly rural area of the state, Robinson said.
"It's a variation of the small fish, big fish issue," Robinson said. "They want to be noticed. They want to be important."
Better communication with high school alumni could also help draw them back to this area, he said.
