A Philadelphia-area business services firm wanted to expand its mid-state offices, and students at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology need real-world experience. The two are combining those goals to create an information technology support center in downtown Harrisburg.
Dr. Eric Darr, Harrisburg University’s executive VP and provost, said the partnership has been discussed for about six years. Now the new office, which he says will essentially operate as a call center, is being outfitted with phone lines and other equipment. LECG, which is headquartered in Devon and works in areas as diverse as litigation, corporate banking and business consulting, will run the center and bring on college students to work on various projects.
Beyond that, Darr says, the details of the arrangement will depend on the specific clients and projects LECG secures. But students could work there as interns, co-ops or as part of class assignments, for example, and get wages or college credit in return. The Harrisburg center has the capacity for 80 workers, but the actual number employed there will be driven by the firm’s workload. The idea is to bring in more students than LECG employees.
Darr calls the new partnership a part of the effort to give students a path to local jobs once they graduate, while keeping existing jobs in Harrisburg.
Source: Dr. Eric Darr, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen