Give Our Young People A Reason

Occasionally, when the children of our church participate in Sunday services, the minister calls them the “future leaders of our church.”

The truth is, many of them probably won’t become leaders of our church—or any church in Malvern. They will grow up, attend college or technical school elsewhere, find good-paying jobs somewhere else, and never return to live here.

Every spring, young people from Malvern earn bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, and professional credentials and begin looking for opportunities.

Too often, those opportunities aren’t here.

They may have grown up in Malvern, attended our schools, played on local teams, worked their first jobs here, and still have family here. But when their education is complete, many discover there aren’t enough jobs in Malvern that match their skills.

So they leave.

And once they establish careers, buy homes, marry, and raise families elsewhere, bringing them home becomes much more difficult.

That may help explain one troubling statistic: only about 12.9 percent of Malvern adults age 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 18.5 percent in Camden, 23 percent in Magnolia, 28.8 percent in Russellville, and 29.6 percent in Searcy.

Several factors affect those numbers. Malvern’s institutional population influences its Census figures, while Russellville, Magnolia, and Searcy benefit from four-year universities.

Still, the difference raises an important question:

What opportunities are we giving educated young people to come home?

Consider what one small employer could do

Imagine Malvern recruited a relatively small company employing 75 people.

Suppose it were a specialized manufacturer serving medical, aerospace, machinery, or another modern industry. Perhaps 20 employees would need bachelor’s degrees in engineering, accounting, management, information technology, or business. Another 30 might need two-year degrees or technical credentials in areas such as mechatronics, industrial maintenance, quality control, or electronics.

The remaining jobs could include production, shipping, and other skilled positions.

Those 75 jobs would mean much more than 75 paychecks.

They would mean households.

Employees would buy or rent homes, purchase groceries and automobiles, eat in local restaurants, hire plumbers and electricians, use local banks and insurance agencies, and spend money with other Malvern businesses.

Some would have children in Malvern schools. Some would coach youth sports, volunteer, attend churches, and become involved in the community.

And perhaps most importantly, a Malvern teenager considering engineering, nursing, accounting, technology, or another career could finally say:

“There may be a place for me here when I finish.”

That is how economic development changes more than employment numbers. It changes expectations.

We need to build a reason to return

We will never stop every young person from leaving Malvern, nor should we.

Young adults should explore, attend universities, experience other communities, and build careers.

The problem isn’t that they leave.

The problem is when they have no realistic reason to come back.

Turning that around requires several things working together.

First, Malvern should focus on recruiting employers that offer a mix of professional, paraprofessional, technical, and skilled jobs—not simply count how many jobs are created.

Twenty good-paying professional or technical jobs can affect a community very differently than twenty low-wage jobs. Both kinds of work matter, but if we want educated young adults to return, there must be jobs that allow them to use their education.

Second, Malvern should strengthen connections among employers, Malvern schools, and ASU Three Rivers.

Students should be able to see a clear path from high school, through ASU Three Rivers or a four-year university, and eventually back to a good job in Malvern.

Internships, apprenticeships, scholarships, job-shadowing, and employer partnerships could help create that path.

Third, Malvern needs housing that young professionals and middle-income families want to buy.

Recruiting jobs while ignoring housing won’t solve the problem.

A young engineer, nurse, manager, accountant, or technician considering Malvern will also ask: Where will I live? What kind of neighborhood can I afford? Where will my children grow up?

Housing is part of workforce development.

So are clean neighborhoods, attractive streets, good parks, recreation, schools, and the overall appearance of the community.

People don’t choose a hometown based on a paycheck alone.

Then a positive cycle begins

Suppose Malvern attracts that 75-person company.

Its success makes Malvern more attractive to another employer.

More professional and technical workers create demand for better housing.

That encourages developers to build.

More households with disposable income support restaurants, retailers, and locally owned businesses.

That encourages more investment.

More development expands the city’s tax base, creating additional resources for streets, parks, public safety, recreation, and other city services.

Those improvements make Malvern more attractive to still more residents and businesses.

Instead of a cycle of young people leaving because opportunity isn’t here, we create a different cycle:

Good jobs attract skilled people.Skilled people support new housing.New households support local businesses.Business growth strengthens the tax base.A stronger tax base improves the community.And a stronger community attracts more jobs and residents.

The benefits wouldn’t stop with people who have college degrees.

A growing professional and technical workforce creates customers for mechanics, roofers, contractors, restaurants, retailers, childcare providers, landscapers, barbers, plumbers, and dozens of other local businesses.

When more money is earned in Malvern—and more of it is spent in Malvern—the benefits spread throughout the community.

We shouldn’t expect Malvern to become Russellville, Searcy, or any other city.

We should expect Malvern to become the strongest version of Malvern it can be.

And one place to begin is giving the young people we educate something they haven’t always had:

a good reason to come home.