SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University and the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau are now partners.

Beginning in 2020, the endeavor will be led by SRU's Mary Jo Ross, associate professor of hospitality, event management and tourism.

Ross said the goal is to enhance SRU students' experiences within the hospitality industry by working with the tourism bureau's staff and having access to the bureau's connections.

“When you start looking at the economic impact and the reasons why tourism is the largest economic generators, you can see the value of why having quality leadership and management is so important,” Ross said.

Ross and Lawrence Shao, dean of the College of Business, will work with Jack Cohen, president of tourism bureau, and John Longstreet, CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“In our industry, everyone is looking for new employees,” Cohen said. “We saw a need.”

Cohen said Butler County has potential for the industry and continues to grow as a destination.

“All those students will have the opportunity to find work in our county, and that's really important because we're trying to keep those students home,” Cohen said.

Cohen said the bureau can provide hands-on experiences, giving them an advantage when applying to entry-level positions. He said the bureau's leaders could also mold them into better leaders.

“These students will be able to go into a restaurant and a coffee shop and anywhere it's needed and have some strong skill sets behind it,” Cohen said.

Ross said the students will be able to design and produce special events with local tourism officials.

She said there is also potential to collaborate with Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo on the area's portion of the 2024 Can-Am Games, which will be hosted throughout the county.

Restaurateur and brewer Bob McCafferty of North Country Brewing also will assist the program by offering the university's first food and beverage classes in the spring of 2020.

McCafferty will provide Ross and SRU access to his Main Street coffee cafe as a culinary lab to facilitate hands-on, experiential learning.

“This is all part of how we keep the wheels greased. We're not a steel community or a railroad car community as we have been in the past,” Ross said.

Ross said filling positions with Western Pennsylvania graduates makes sense because of how hard people work in this area.

“We've got blue-collar DNA that is critical to our industry,” Ross said. “They've got a work ethic you're not going to find in a lot of millennials today.”