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I'm Dr. Ralph Ford, Chancellor of Penn State Behrend and you are listening to Behrend Talks. My guest today is Marcus Jacobs and he is a parent alumnus who now works as the borough manager of Wesleyville.
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And for those who don't know, Wesleyville is a small urban community just east of Erie and a few miles from campus. So welcome to the show, Marcus.
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Hello. Thank you for having me.
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Well, before w,,mje begin, I'm just going to run through a little bit of your background.
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So everybody knows about you.
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You are a 2022, graduate of Penn State Behrend and you earned your undergraduate degrees. You got to actually while you were here, business, economics and international business. And you were very active in this where I remember first meeting you was in the virtual and augmented reality lab, we'll just call it VR lab for short. Here at Behrend, a really exciting place, which uses virtual reality immersive technologies to create new approaches to learning, research and community engagement. And not only that, you helped create the labs project management office and you continue to serve as a helper when we call a community affiliate. And a little bit more in July this year, you took on a really interesting job. You became the borough manager for Wesleyville. And as we said, it's a small community nearby with 3,300 residents. And as the Bureau's Chief Administrative Officer, you're managing a sizable budget $2.6 million a year. So again, welcome. And why don't you tell us a little bit about how you ended up here at Behrend. I know you grew up in the Pittsburgh area, you went to community college. So what was your pathway to get here?
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Yeah, so I started out my college career at the CCAC (Community College of Allegheny County) down in Pittsburgh, the community college on the north side there.
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And that was a good place. You know, I was there for a year.
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And I was looking to transfer out and come to a four year institution. And originally I went and visited the Penn State, University Park campus. And there I was definitely, you know, fell in love with Penn State. And I wanted to go to Penn State. And I remember originally, actually, I was kind of devastated when I was putting in my application, because I was because I was there for one year, I was not able to transfer directly to University Park. So they were, they were making me come to some other campus for one year and then transfer in.
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And so at that point, I was I kind of chose Erie, you know, in a sense, reluctantly, my cousin was actually here at the time and from Behrend. Sure, exactly.
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And from Pittsburgh, I mean, the one thing that you everyone knows about Erie is the winters and everything. So I was really like, kind of dreading it. And then once I actually got here, I was here for a couple of weeks.
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And I just was like, Nope, this is where I'm gonna stay. Well, sure enough, yeah. Here we are.
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Yeah, so I didn't even experience the weather,
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So what changed?
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Was it the people the weather actually, before I changed my mind. So, but just being here for a couple of weeks, engaging with the faculty that I did, and campus, all of it, you made friends, you found a girlfriend?
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What was it?
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the other students, and it just felt like this was, you know, a good place. I was able to get acclimated very quickly. And then as I said, I made that decision before even the winter, but after the winter, it really isn't that bad. You know, I got good, good coat, good boots and gloves. And then I'm fine.
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Winter is just fine here. You know?
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Yeah, it's, you have to just get used to the snow. So, I mean, obviously that was is well, we had the majors that you're interested in? Is that why you came here as well?
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I mean, you studied you got two degrees, business, economics and international business. Was that a choice before you came here?
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Did you find them when you were here?
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Yeah. So in terms of the in terms of the economics, I knew that I wanted to get into business, and I was particularly interested in economics. And then upon coming here and learning more about that program, I came to understand that the Business Economics program is actually pretty unique to this campus, in that it's housed within the business school. So down at University Park, it's actually housed in viewed more as a social science. Whereas here, you're taking a core basket of business classes. And then the economics that you're taking is very business focused. And it is a Bachelors of Science. Whereas I believe down at University Park, it would have been a Bachelors of Arts. So for that reason, I came to love the Business Economics program. And then later on is when I learned more about you know, being here how this is also kind of unique to Behrend that it's you will make it very easy to get a second major.
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Yeah, absolutely. So that's a great combination. Those two, yeah.
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That has treated me very well. And anytime I've mentioned it to anybody, they seem impressed. So and I really liked that the international business. It was a good pairing, I had to take maybe a handful of other kind of unique classes that are like in international finance and international economics and I took a couple years of a Spanish class and whatnot.
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So you studied international business. Have you had the opportunity to travel overseas?
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I certainly have.
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Yeah, I got a chance. My mom's actually from Germany originally. So that's kind of what also got me interested in international business. Because from a young age, I came to understand that there's different considerations when you're thinking about different continent and different time zones and everything. And we did get a chance to travel over to Germany. Other than that, with post COVID. It's been, it's been challenging. So I haven't traveled as much as I want to, but I got some, you've
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got a whole long life ahead of you. So and maybe you'll get to engage in some international business. But let's talk about economics for a second. I always find economics, you know, and economists fascinating, the way that they think, what is it that if you could encapsulate or describe what was it about the economics degree that you think you walked away with? That was really good skill? Or what did you learn in that program?
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Yeah, I think I really liked the analytical decision making, you know, the fact that it really focused with micro and macro economics, you think a lot about, especially in micro, you're thinking about how you make individual decisions, you know, what is the marginal benefit, marginal cost and everything. And then on a macro level, it was really cool to realize how so many of the phenomenon that we see is based off of just a bunch of individuals making decisions.
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And then the the economics classes that I really liked the most. In my senior year, there was the one econometrics that was all about analyzing just a massive amount of data and trying to learn something from it, pull something from it. So that's the kind of stuff that I really enjoy. And that's has treated me pretty well. So far.
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I've been able to use that skill quite a bit. Well,
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we'll get to what you do in your day job.
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We'll talk about that. But first, I'll put you on the spot.
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Any favorite faculty members?
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Absolutely. So within in general, definitely.
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Dr. Chris Shelton, who I worked with quite extensively. And other than that, within the Black School Business, Professor Hajec, I was I knew very well, she got me actually connected more on campus.
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Great advisor.
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Kept you on the straight and narrow track.
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Absolutely, yeah.
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And I remember the one who actually this was, this was the professor who, the first couple classes being here, he really aided in me deciding to stay here was actually Professor Gates, who was teaching the micro economics class, he was just really, he had a good perspective on, you know, the value of Behrend and talked a lot about Erie specifically. And I remember he pulled up a cost of living calculator that was relative for Erie relative to New York City or some of the other places. And he kind of opened my eyes. And I think a lot of the rest of the class to like, hey, you know, there's a lot of opportunities in Erie and you can you can get comfortable here, you know, and the cost of living is low. So you don't have to make as much to still be very comfortable.
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That's right.
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And good advice. And, you know, I hate to put you on the spot. I know, you had many great faculty, I'm sure. So I'm glad you could name a few.
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A short few, a lot more than that.
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That's fair enough. How about, you know, the financial side? I know, you got a few scholarships while you were here? And was that critical in the choice to come and stay here? And how did that influence your decision in terms of affordability?
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Yeah, the scholarships, I received a couple of them that I got several semesters in a row, it was certainly very helpful. And when I was involved, you know, in the VAR lab and whatnot. You know, we had to make it work for time it was at volunteer, or then it was for, you know, some wage that might be below market level when you look elsewhere.
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But I was able to stay and get involved on campus more, because I had that cushion. You know, the, the scholarships really helped out with that. Also, those scholarships, from my understanding, you were kind of tied to that I was getting, you know, a good GPA. And that was nice as well. And I was like, hey, you know, I'm someone's paying attention to that, you know, I better keep that up next semester.
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So it's good to be rewarded for hard work and for performance. So for you, and you, as you said, you worked in the VAR lab for how many years and explain what the VAR lab was about, and what did you do there? You did so many things.
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But when he talked about the VAR lab?
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Definitely. So the VAR lab, I originally got involved in summer of 2020. So I was there for a total of three years, or nearly three years.
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And the way that I originally got started with the VAR lab, I kind of fell into it. Because during 2020, when everything was going down, I was at the library, and I had seen something there for the Media Commons program, which gets technology into the hands of students. So up to that point, I had never worked with a 360 camera or with a VAR headset or anything like that. But I just I just asked and said hey, what's available, and then when I started tinkering with it, you know, I was doing things around campus, taking pictures and whatnot. And that's when I had actually gone to Professor Hajec and said, "Hey, this is something I've been doing. I really liked this". And then she kind of forwarded me along and got me in contact with people.
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And soon enough, someone said, hey, you know, there's this professor Dr. Shelton, who actually has this whole lab dedicated to this kind of stuff.
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And sure enough, after he and I met once, it was like, Alright, this is where this is where I'll be working. And then I stuck with him for three years. And we just went project to project to project.
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Well, you know, one of the things if you put the VAR goggles on, and you go into one of those virtual worlds, and it's scary to me a little bit how you can feel like you're falling off the edge of the world, and just how realistic it is.
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Yeah, it's a fascinating experience. And before the summer of 2020, I had no no interaction with any VR technologies or anything. I never even put a headset on. But once I did, I saw the value in it and more and more getting involved in the VAR lab. It's like that, that technology is fascinating. It has a lot of applications, especially within education.
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So one that you worked on was mapping out the Wintergreen Gorge, which is of course, the beautiful gorge we have here on campus. What was that project about? Why did you undertake it? And what were the outcomes?
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Yeah, so the Wintergreen Gorge was one thing coming from Pittsburgh that I really, really liked. I went hiking quite a bit, and I would spend a lot of time out there.
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And then at one point, I guess it was, it would have been early in 2021. Kristen Comstock, the director of the Alumni Relations Department, I had reached out and asked if we had any ideas, there's like the we our week event, and typically that's held in person down at University Park. But in 2021, it was held virtually. So that gave greater opportunity for Behrend to be able to showcase something unique about us and really have the spotlight. And she and us we had spoken and came to agreement that, you know, the Wintergreen Gorge is something we want to highlight. And then from that point, on the early months of 2021, it was just getting all the technology worked out with the 360 camera, and then actually getting out there and spending quite a bit of time in the wintergreen gorge, just getting all the pictures. And I think in total, there was like one hundred 360 pictures, which then it took a lot of post processing, and then combining them so that you have a seamless user experience and everything.
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So if somebody wants to see is it on the web, or do they come to the VAR lab to experience a walk through the Gorge, how does it work?
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Yeah, so this is great. I mean, you can experience it through a VR headset, and you can experience and in person at the VAR lab, but also it is online, that anybody can experience it through their web browser.
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Wow. So you just go to the VAR lab page, and I'm sure you can find it.
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Yes, yeah. It's listed somewhere as the virtual hike of the Wintergreen Gorge.
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Okay, easy enough to find, although, of course, walking in the gorgeous is irreplaceable.
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Absolutely irreplaceable. Yeah. And that's what hopefully with this that would inspire someone to say, hey, let's come out and check it out.
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You also work on the project for the Hagen History Museum.
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Oh, yes, I did.
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Yeah.
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What did you tell us about what that one was about?
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Yeah, that one was another cool one, that that kind of came right after pretty much the virtual hike of the Wintergreen Gorge concluded. And we were able to show them that down at The Hague History Center. And they really liked that for an exhibit of theirs that they were doing. They have a they have a telescope that they had gotten from Commodore Perry, his actual telescope, but they have that, you know, in a glass box there, of course, you know, you have to have it separated. So they wanted to do something to bring that artifact to life. And then they had a touchscreen directly next to it.
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And we were able to ultimately get that telescope scanned. So that then it could be like manipulated on the touchscreen, the person can flip it upside down or zoom in, and there's inscriptions on it. So you can zoom in and look at the inscriptions, as well, as we kind of created a little bit of a game out of it, where we had, like, we took a 360 picture out at the tip of Presque Isle. And then we had like a ship spotting game, or you would have the human kind of turn on the view.
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And you had a very little circle there. And it kind of showed you what it might have felt like to have to seek out ships on the horizon with his tiny little field of view. Because nowadays, we're so used to our phones, having telescopic, you know, zoom or being able to zoom out and see really wide field of view, but the field of view on this telescope was tiny.
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See what it was really like, exactly back when they had to do that. Yeah, well, really neat project and helped out the community and it still exists at Hagen History Museum.
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So wonderful outcome there.
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Let's talk about some of your other experiences here on campus. You were an ambassador, first and foremost, Lion ambassador. So what are the Lion Ambassadors do?
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Yeah, the Lion Ambassadors were a great organization. I was involved pretty much from day one that also helped, right? The first semester that I was here getting involved in Lion Ambassadors because so much pride Yeah, absolutely. So all eight semesters I was in that it was just, it's a great organization.
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We do a lot of events, we do stuff in the community and and then in particular on campus, we do you know, our kind of biggest thing is the midnight bingo. So that's that was a real blast. We put on I believe, five a semester and we have great prizes and hundreds of students in attendance.
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It is still amazing to me. I mean, Midnight bingo goes back. I don't know how many years but 25 years maybe on this campus, and it's a phenom, but sells out. You know, it's hundreds of kids show up at midnight.
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Yeah. And go.
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Yeah, it's a very, very popular event. And really, we typically hold it on a Friday. So are you at the end of that week having that it's just a very nice, you know, pick me up and got a lot of Behrend spirit there. That's for sure.
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Well, I'll tell you, we parents, family and alumni weekend this last year, I don't know if you were here. But there was a big game of midnight bingo going on during the day, but a lot of alumni parents and just filled the Junker center.
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So that was really, really cool to see. But you were also a UN ambassador in the Black School of Business as well.
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Yeah, certainly.
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And that was something so so as a lion ambassador. You're also involved in the open house and providing tours and whatnot. So I was giving tours around the whole of campus. And then that would have been maybe my second semester, I can't quite remember, but Hajec hasn't invited me to be a part of the business ambassadors. I mean, without one, you kind of had to learn a little bit about each of the majors that the business school offers. And then we would be kind of standing by your major's table during the open house and engaging with students and whatnot.
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So when you're a tour guide here on campus, you have to learn to walk backwards, is that correct?
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That is certainly correct. There's a lot of walking backwards and talking loudly. And it's interesting. I came from Pittsburgh, so I'm not at all scared of hills. But it is interesting that Erie is relatively flat, except for the Behrend campus, we decided to find a hill and put a campus on
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That we did. And some of the grades here. You it.
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know, I'm a cyclist. So I've gone and got the topo maps, you know, Jordan hill gets up to like 15% in some place. So, of course, we've got winding back and forth, keep it below 5%, for accessibility to. So yeah, we really appreciate that. It means a lot to the prospective students and families, all that great work that our ambassadors do. Let's talk about though your career now after you left Behrend, so very interestingly, you've got a career paths so far, that I don't recall any of our barons students going in this direction, at least not so early in their career, and that is no, you're the borough manager for Wesleyville. And so tell us like, how did you end up in this position?
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I don't know. I got lucky, I guess. Well, Wesleyville is I've heard it referred to actually I gotta give credit here by Amy Bridger.
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When we were talking about it, she said, college adjacent community, and we certainly are one, we're located just down the road. And I actually moved to Wesleyville. Once I moved off campus, I got an apartment there. And I lived there for several years. And living there.
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I really liked it. It's very walkable, very safe. There's a lot of front porches and people out riding bikes. So very, very nice community. And then, earlier this year, I just my neighbor and I were talking and we didn't even talk that much.
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You know, it was just kind of random. And then he, we were talking and I mentioned how I was looking for things. And I didn't know what was out there.
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And I wanted to get more involved in the community. And then he said, Well, you know, there's, there's actually a job that will be opening up here soon for the borough manager position. So I got really excited about it hooked on it for several weeks, I was just like crafting my resume and my cover letter and the interview.
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Yeah, I was fixated. But then, you know, I went in and talked with them. And they, they liked it and decided that they'd give me a chance. So that's where we are now. That was that was in July, and then I started officially August 1, and it's been crazy since then.
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So your interview was that? Did you meet the mayor and the council members? And how did the interview process work?
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Yeah, so the way the government's set up there, there's a borough council consisting of seven members. And then there's also a borough mayor, and the council is really the the legislative body. And there there is a personnel committee there. So there were three members of the council, who I ended up interviewing with, and they then were able to offer me the job. And but yeah, in this position, I've worked very closely with all seven of the council members and the mayor that's there.
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Any trick questions like government related questions, or was it about project management, anything stick out?
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Um, there wasn't too much. There wasn't anything tricky. And they wanted somebody has nothing that was too much of a trick question or hard that I had to really wrack my brain about, but I do know, I mean, we talked a lot about the project management type stuff that I was doing. So the master's program that I'm in now, they were really excited about that. And I talked very extensively about the VAR lab and the many projects that I worked on there.
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And I had a lot to talk about. I think the biggest thing really was was talking about the stakeholder engagement because obviously a community you're just a bunch of stakeholders, you know, so many different businesses and residents and organizations on a regional level that you'd have to engage with. So having been able to show them that I did that effectively within the VAR lab, that won them over
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So that made the difference? What you were you did a lot when you were in the VAR lab here and very engaged and active. But you know, so tell us and it's probably hard to answer what's the typical day look like? So what's your job look like on a day in day out basis?
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It's craziness.
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That's for sure. There's a lot going on. And with Wesleyville, as much as I love Wesleyville is the community there, the organization over time, it's a small government, you know, local government and at its fallen behind in some key categories. And it's been difficult to keep up. So coming in there, there's a lot more modernizing that has had to take place that that's an interesting thing, too. With the VAR lab, I got very familiar with operating, using technologies, even simple stuff, like having a Microsoft Teams and, and utilizing a lot of that for file sharing, and everything, which a lot of what Wesleyville has operated has been actually still on paper, it's all very much on paper a lot more slow, and, and not as adaptable as now, you know, oh, let me go into the Excel and make some changes.
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And so trying to change the business processes?
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Yeah, there's a lot of utilize them. Yeah. So there's a lot of changing processes. And then also, the borough is there has a lot of project management and portfolio management that has to go on because the borough even though we're small, we have a portfolio of parks about a handful of parks, that these are assets that we need to think about, you know, plan for same way that we have 10 miles of roads that we own. So those are all assets that you need to think about and compare what is the next one that needs to be done? And how much is that going to cost? And and same with me, we have sewer system and wastewater or not wastewater stormwater system.
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And there's so there's a lot of assets that we have that coming in, I've been trying to get digitized, and then having a interactive portfolio that we can keep up on, and give us more of a view towards the future. So I would say the biggest thing on the day to day is really just managing the many projects that we have going on making sure that everything's kind of moving forward, you know, slowly but surely. And in this role, I've had to be very adaptable. I've had to be able to pivot quite a bit, that, you know, I'd be working on one thing hyperfocused. And then some President calls in with a problem that I need to jump and fix that real quick. So there's a lot of back and forth and everything there.
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So well, you've been in the position less than
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I certainly am, yes.
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Do you have to get involved in the political six months, but it sounds like you're really having a lot of fun.
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side of it at all? Or do you are you able to largely navigate away from that.
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That's the part, I'm kind of glad that I didn't...that this is an appointed position. So I'm appointed by the Borough Council. So I didn't have to be elected. I didn't have to go through some campaign or anything like that. So I do really like that I got the opportunity to work for the community, like immediately, and I can kind of show my value or what I can provide to the community through action. So I like that. I have, you know, the political atmosphere like obviously, our council is is elected and our mayor's elected and stuff. So there's a little bit of that. But the biggest thing that I've gotten involved on a regional level, there's a Council of Governments.
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The Erie County Council of Governments or COG.
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Yeah, Erie Area Council of government. So that's consisting of a bunch of municipalities. So representing Wesleyville there are going to our metropolitan planning organization, where they're the ones who divvy out the federal money for the infrastructure projects and whatnot. So there's a lot, I didn't even realize just how much Wesleyville has to be a part of all these different organizations, and we don't have to, but if we don't, we're missing out on a lot of potential value that's there.
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You're applying for any grants? I mean, is that part of what you do?
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Oh yes, yeah, as the borough manager, I'm kind of that position is the one that is really tasked with lining up the grants and putting out the application. So we've done quite a lot on that front, too, when when I first came in, we didn't really have much organization at all for like, the grants process. You know, we didn't have a portfolio of all of them, and we didn't, so we've kind of been winging it. But even before getting there, we've historically actually been very successful at grants. The story for Wesley village there, you know, we can make our case and when the case is made, we often get the money that goes towards projects. So we've been able to revamp a couple of our parks within the last few years. For just this year, there was a really big grant that came through and I had no part of this this was before me $1.2 million from Penn dots greenlights go program. And that's Yeah, huge. We have five signalized intersections within our within our borough and all of them are completely outdated, don't meet modern ADA accessibility standards and stuff like that. So this one grant application 1.2 million is going to be able to knock out four of those transformational for the community, huge transfer A huge transformation. So that's a really big one. And then we've put in other grants for resurfacing we just put in, like I think two weeks ago $1 million for Euclid Boulevard in West Louisville. Euclid is a really, really bad road. It's long, it's wide. And it's concrete which is really the problem that over time the concrete has shifted.
00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:45.259
And now you can't just mill it down and resurface it you need to pretty much rip out all the concrete and start the road from scratch. So this one probably that one road is likely 1.5 million or more. So we were able to put in a $1 million grant for that so at least we can do it chunk by chunk, but fingers crossed on that one we haven't.
00:25:45.059 --> 00:26:12.629
Wow sounds like you're jumped right in and you've got a lot of projects going you know wisely Ville is a it's an interesting it's a really, you know, like you said neat community you found a place that you really love it was founded in 1912. And it was named after John Wesley obviously Wesleyville is pretty common or the name Wesley who is for those who don't know, the founder of Methodism. How would you describe that community though today? What's your description when people say tell me about Wesleyville?
00:26:12.839 --> 00:27:45.990
Yeah, well, as you said, a lot of West Louisville was built in the early 1900s. So that's the way that we developed as a community is very different than communities that developed in the second half of the 20th century, the houses there are more dense, there were actually dense enough to be considered urban, even though living there I never thought of it as an urban community. But but it is, technically there's that threshold were dense enough to be urban. And there's sidewalks in front porches, and it's very walkable and bikable, which other communities that have developed later, you might not see sidewalks as widespread as they are in Wesleyville. So as a community, that's really the big thing is that the fabric of the community, I would say is very community oriented. And then we do have a traditional style business district as well along buffalo road, so very heavily trafficked a lot of potential as it sits today. Coming into it, the business district is not something that we're super proud of. I mean, over the last several decades, it's been very it's struggled, we've seen a lot more lost than we've seen gain there. And it's slowly you know, it has, over time deteriorated to some degree, but it's not at all too far gone. And it's definitely it's it's able to be revamped. And when when it does, we will have a very unique entry like a gateway to West Louisville. And then once you're in West Louisville, it will be you'll have walkable and bikable business district with a variety of small storefronts for more mom and pop kind of businesses.
00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:48.629
And yeah, so that's, that's pretty much.
00:27:48.899 --> 00:28:08.009
You're looking forward, you're already thinking 5 or 10 years out, because that sort of transformation. And like you said it is it's a neat community, you know, you've got the nice storefronts there. A lot of that, you know, little time, you're gonna find some funding, you find the right businesses, and before you know it, the community really starts to look different.
00:28:08.190 --> 00:29:04.980
Yeah, absolutely, definitely have to think, you know, 5 or 10 years out. And I'm really optimistic about it. I think that the case is there 100% For there's a lot of economic development grants available for creating a nicer, more like Main Street business district. And we're, yeah, I'm very confident in our ability to improve that. And I think the return on the investment for an area like ours is going to be so much greater than maybe elsewhere, because we're, you know, a couple planters or a couple nice fresh bus stops. You know, it goes a long way. We only have literally the whole of West Louisville, we didn't talk about that much yet. But it's one mile by half a mile. So the entire like thing is point five square miles. So it's not a very big community. But it's big enough that I mean, we got to think about everything. But when we start to do a couple things, it will really the return will be seen felt very immediately.
00:29:05.649 --> 00:29:20.319
Well, let's switch a little bit back to Penn State. You got your undergraduate degrees here, but you're also pursuing a master's of project management. And my guess is that through our Penn State World Campus, but it's a Behrend program. So how's that going?
00:29:20.589 --> 00:29:30.970
Yeah, so that's going very well, I'm I'm just, it's it was finals week at this point. So just finished my final for nine out of the 10 classes.
00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:41.919
So I'm done. Now. one more class, one more class in the spring, and then I'll be graduated so anticipated in May 24. But the program has been great. From the very beginning.
00:29:38.649 --> 00:30:13.299
I started that immediately after graduating in 2022. I just knew that that's I really liked project management. Because by that point, I had already had involvement in the lab and I really liked that project oriented thinking. And then so far, it's it's been all online, but all of my professors are located here at Behrend. So it's been at times I even went in and talked to them in their office hours in person. So That's pretty unique. And other than that the way the classes are structured online, I've been very impressed, very nicely laid out and very informative.
00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:18.639
It's a tremendous program. Yeah, we've had it for a number of years.
00:30:15.429 --> 00:30:28.539
And, you know, like you said, a lot of good outcomes. And it doesn't matter if you're, you know, in technology development or running projects. We all run projects in life and must be fit in really well with what you're doing on Wednesday.
00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:49.267
Yeah, there's a lot of people I've talked to about that program is, especially people in it. And there's so many people who are unofficial project managers that their day to day is project management, and they don't even realize it. So that program is really good for I would say anybody. And in terms of choosing the program, initially, I was looking for, I was looking around for project management.
00:30:49.318 --> 00:31:01.596
And I pretty much already settled on Behrend, I was like, this is where I, you know, I'm going to be in this program. But when I wanted to just I was curious. And I just wanted to see what the ranking was like.
00:30:58.605 --> 00:31:13.668
So I just looked up project management masters online, or not, not online, just master's programs. And then I was scrolling through, I think it was like a top 25 list, you know, and I was just scrolling and started at 25. So I'm scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.
00:31:13.721 --> 00:31:22.851
And I was getting to a point where I was like, alright, top 10 and top five, like, I'm really getting, like, is it not gonna be on this list at all?
00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:24.710
And then sure enough, it was actually number one program listed.
00:31:24.710 --> 00:31:28.399
Yeah. So it is a well developed well respected programs. Yeah.
00:31:28.399 --> 00:31:37.573
And seeing that really gave me a lot of confidence. Like, wow, this is a it's a legit program. And it's a it's administered out of Baron like it was like, This is great.
00:31:37.627 --> 00:31:39.799
This is exactly what I'm supposed to do.
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:41.899
Well, we are coming to the end of the show.
00:31:41.948 --> 00:31:44.928
I'll give you the last word.
00:31:41.948 --> 00:31:47.029
What's next for you? What do you see is the next steps in your career life?
00:31:47.029 --> 00:31:49.308
I would say at least the next couple of years.
00:31:49.357 --> 00:31:58.375
Wesley will. So you know, past that. I don't know. i If you asked me two years ago, where I'd be right now. I wouldn't say I wouldn't say as a borough manager. So yeah, I don't know.
00:31:58.424 --> 00:32:06.649
But definitely in this area. I like West Louisville, and I like the Erie region. And I like Western Pennsylvania. So definitely sticking around here.
00:32:04.221 --> 00:32:06.649
That's for sure.
00:32:06.649 --> 00:32:16.294
Well, that's great to hear. Because we need young smart people like you in the community. And it's a hard question that I asked you so sorry to put you on the spot.
00:32:16.354 --> 00:32:27.529
But thanks for joining us. My guest today has been Marcus Jacobs and Marcus is a Penn State Behrend 2022 graduate who is now the borough manager for Wesleyville. Thanks for being here today.
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:28.460
Thank you for having me.
00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:19.160
I'm Dr. Ralph Ford, Chancellor of Penn State Behrend and you are listening to Behrend Talks. My guest today is Marcus Jacobs and he is a parent alumnus who now works as the borough manager of Wesleyville.
00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:27.320
And for those who don't know, Wesleyville is a small urban community just east of Erie and a few miles from campus. So welcome to the show, Marcus.
00:00:27.529 --> 00:00:30.410
Hello. Thank you for having me.
00:00:27.529 --> 00:00:32.600
Well, before w,,mje begin, I'm just going to run through a little bit of your background.
00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.920
So everybody knows about you.
00:00:32.600 --> 00:01:42.320
You are a 2022, graduate of Penn State Behrend and you earned your undergraduate degrees. You got to actually while you were here, business, economics and international business. And you were very active in this where I remember first meeting you was in the virtual and augmented reality lab, we'll just call it VR lab for short. Here at Behrend, a really exciting place, which uses virtual reality immersive technologies to create new approaches to learning, research and community engagement. And not only that, you helped create the labs project management office and you continue to serve as a helper when we call a community affiliate. And a little bit more in July this year, you took on a really interesting job. You became the borough manager for Wesleyville. And as we said, it's a small community nearby with 3,300 residents. And as the Bureau's Chief Administrative Officer, you're managing a sizable budget $2.6 million a year. So again, welcome. And why don't you tell us a little bit about how you ended up here at Behrend. I know you grew up in the Pittsburgh area, you went to community college. So what was your pathway to get here?
00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:49.590
Yeah, so I started out my college career at the CCAC (Community College of Allegheny County) down in Pittsburgh, the community college on the north side there.
00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.560
And that was a good place. You know, I was there for a year.
00:01:53.159 --> 00:02:26.069
And I was looking to transfer out and come to a four year institution. And originally I went and visited the Penn State, University Park campus. And there I was definitely, you know, fell in love with Penn State. And I wanted to go to Penn State. And I remember originally, actually, I was kind of devastated when I was putting in my application, because I was because I was there for one year, I was not able to transfer directly to University Park. So they were, they were making me come to some other campus for one year and then transfer in.
00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:37.949
And so at that point, I was I kind of chose Erie, you know, in a sense, reluctantly, my cousin was actually here at the time and from Behrend. Sure, exactly.
00:02:33.810 --> 00:02:46.740
And from Pittsburgh, I mean, the one thing that you everyone knows about Erie is the winters and everything. So I was really like, kind of dreading it. And then once I actually got here, I was here for a couple of weeks.
00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:50.849
And I just was like, Nope, this is where I'm gonna stay. Well, sure enough, yeah. Here we are.
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Yeah, so I didn't even experience the weather,
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So what changed?
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Was it the people the weather actually, before I changed my mind. So, but just being here for a couple of weeks, engaging with the faculty that I did, and campus, all of it, you made friends, you found a girlfriend?
00:02:57.319 --> 00:02:57.830
What was it?
00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:22.699
the other students, and it just felt like this was, you know, a good place. I was able to get acclimated very quickly. And then as I said, I made that decision before even the winter, but after the winter, it really isn't that bad. You know, I got good, good coat, good boots and gloves. And then I'm fine.
00:03:22.729 --> 00:03:24.590
Winter is just fine here. You know?
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Yeah, it's, you have to just get used to the snow. So, I mean, obviously that was is well, we had the majors that you're interested in? Is that why you came here as well?
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I mean, you studied you got two degrees, business, economics and international business. Was that a choice before you came here?
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Did you find them when you were here?
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Yeah. So in terms of the in terms of the economics, I knew that I wanted to get into business, and I was particularly interested in economics. And then upon coming here and learning more about that program, I came to understand that the Business Economics program is actually pretty unique to this campus, in that it's housed within the business school. So down at University Park, it's actually housed in viewed more as a social science. Whereas here, you're taking a core basket of business classes. And then the economics that you're taking is very business focused. And it is a Bachelors of Science. Whereas I believe down at University Park, it would have been a Bachelors of Arts. So for that reason, I came to love the Business Economics program. And then later on is when I learned more about you know, being here how this is also kind of unique to Behrend that it's you will make it very easy to get a second major.
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Yeah, absolutely. So that's a great combination. Those two, yeah.
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That has treated me very well. And anytime I've mentioned it to anybody, they seem impressed. So and I really liked that the international business. It was a good pairing, I had to take maybe a handful of other kind of unique classes that are like in international finance and international economics and I took a couple years of a Spanish class and whatnot.
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So you studied international business. Have you had the opportunity to travel overseas?
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I certainly have.
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Yeah, I got a chance. My mom's actually from Germany originally. So that's kind of what also got me interested in international business. Because from a young age, I came to understand that there's different considerations when you're thinking about different continent and different time zones and everything. And we did get a chance to travel over to Germany. Other than that, with post COVID. It's been, it's been challenging. So I haven't traveled as much as I want to, but I got some, you've
00:05:29.629 --> 00:05:53.720
got a whole long life ahead of you. So and maybe you'll get to engage in some international business. But let's talk about economics for a second. I always find economics, you know, and economists fascinating, the way that they think, what is it that if you could encapsulate or describe what was it about the economics degree that you think you walked away with? That was really good skill? Or what did you learn in that program?
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Yeah, I think I really liked the analytical decision making, you know, the fact that it really focused with micro and macro economics, you think a lot about, especially in micro, you're thinking about how you make individual decisions, you know, what is the marginal benefit, marginal cost and everything. And then on a macro level, it was really cool to realize how so many of the phenomenon that we see is based off of just a bunch of individuals making decisions.
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And then the the economics classes that I really liked the most. In my senior year, there was the one econometrics that was all about analyzing just a massive amount of data and trying to learn something from it, pull something from it. So that's the kind of stuff that I really enjoy. And that's has treated me pretty well. So far.
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I've been able to use that skill quite a bit. Well,
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we'll get to what you do in your day job.
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We'll talk about that. But first, I'll put you on the spot.
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Any favorite faculty members?
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Absolutely. So within in general, definitely.
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Dr. Chris Shelton, who I worked with quite extensively. And other than that, within the Black School Business, Professor Hajec, I was I knew very well, she got me actually connected more on campus.
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Great advisor.
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Kept you on the straight and narrow track.
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Absolutely, yeah.
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And I remember the one who actually this was, this was the professor who, the first couple classes being here, he really aided in me deciding to stay here was actually Professor Gates, who was teaching the micro economics class, he was just really, he had a good perspective on, you know, the value of Behrend and talked a lot about Erie specifically. And I remember he pulled up a cost of living calculator that was relative for Erie relative to New York City or some of the other places. And he kind of opened my eyes. And I think a lot of the rest of the class to like, hey, you know, there's a lot of opportunities in Erie and you can you can get comfortable here, you know, and the cost of living is low. So you don't have to make as much to still be very comfortable.
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That's right.
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And good advice. And, you know, I hate to put you on the spot. I know, you had many great faculty, I'm sure. So I'm glad you could name a few.
00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:06.519
A short few, a lot more than that.
00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:20.649
That's fair enough. How about, you know, the financial side? I know, you got a few scholarships while you were here? And was that critical in the choice to come and stay here? And how did that influence your decision in terms of affordability?
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Yeah, the scholarships, I received a couple of them that I got several semesters in a row, it was certainly very helpful. And when I was involved, you know, in the VAR lab and whatnot. You know, we had to make it work for time it was at volunteer, or then it was for, you know, some wage that might be below market level when you look elsewhere.
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But I was able to stay and get involved on campus more, because I had that cushion. You know, the, the scholarships really helped out with that. Also, those scholarships, from my understanding, you were kind of tied to that I was getting, you know, a good GPA. And that was nice as well. And I was like, hey, you know, I'm someone's paying attention to that, you know, I better keep that up next semester.
00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:14.089
So it's good to be rewarded for hard work and for performance. So for you, and you, as you said, you worked in the VAR lab for how many years and explain what the VAR lab was about, and what did you do there? You did so many things.
00:09:14.089 --> 00:09:16.219
But when he talked about the VAR lab?
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Definitely. So the VAR lab, I originally got involved in summer of 2020. So I was there for a total of three years, or nearly three years.
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And the way that I originally got started with the VAR lab, I kind of fell into it. Because during 2020, when everything was going down, I was at the library, and I had seen something there for the Media Commons program, which gets technology into the hands of students. So up to that point, I had never worked with a 360 camera or with a VAR headset or anything like that. But I just I just asked and said hey, what's available, and then when I started tinkering with it, you know, I was doing things around campus, taking pictures and whatnot. And that's when I had actually gone to Professor Hajec and said, "Hey, this is something I've been doing. I really liked this". And then she kind of forwarded me along and got me in contact with people.
00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:14.769
And soon enough, someone said, hey, you know, there's this professor Dr. Shelton, who actually has this whole lab dedicated to this kind of stuff.
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And sure enough, after he and I met once, it was like, Alright, this is where this is where I'll be working. And then I stuck with him for three years. And we just went project to project to project.
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Well, you know, one of the things if you put the VAR goggles on, and you go into one of those virtual worlds, and it's scary to me a little bit how you can feel like you're falling off the edge of the world, and just how realistic it is.
00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:56.139
Yeah, it's a fascinating experience. And before the summer of 2020, I had no no interaction with any VR technologies or anything. I never even put a headset on. But once I did, I saw the value in it and more and more getting involved in the VAR lab. It's like that, that technology is fascinating. It has a lot of applications, especially within education.
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So one that you worked on was mapping out the Wintergreen Gorge, which is of course, the beautiful gorge we have here on campus. What was that project about? Why did you undertake it? And what were the outcomes?
00:11:07.459 --> 00:11:15.709
Yeah, so the Wintergreen Gorge was one thing coming from Pittsburgh that I really, really liked. I went hiking quite a bit, and I would spend a lot of time out there.
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And then at one point, I guess it was, it would have been early in 2021. Kristen Comstock, the director of the Alumni Relations Department, I had reached out and asked if we had any ideas, there's like the we our week event, and typically that's held in person down at University Park. But in 2021, it was held virtually. So that gave greater opportunity for Behrend to be able to showcase something unique about us and really have the spotlight. And she and us we had spoken and came to agreement that, you know, the Wintergreen Gorge is something we want to highlight. And then from that point, on the early months of 2021, it was just getting all the technology worked out with the 360 camera, and then actually getting out there and spending quite a bit of time in the wintergreen gorge, just getting all the pictures. And I think in total, there was like one hundred 360 pictures, which then it took a lot of post processing, and then combining them so that you have a seamless user experience and everything.
00:12:13.129 --> 00:12:18.949
So if somebody wants to see is it on the web, or do they come to the VAR lab to experience a walk through the Gorge, how does it work?
00:12:19.069 --> 00:12:28.579
Yeah, so this is great. I mean, you can experience it through a VR headset, and you can experience and in person at the VAR lab, but also it is online, that anybody can experience it through their web browser.
00:12:28.669 --> 00:12:31.729
Wow. So you just go to the VAR lab page, and I'm sure you can find it.
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Yes, yeah. It's listed somewhere as the virtual hike of the Wintergreen Gorge.
00:12:35.329 --> 00:12:40.009
Okay, easy enough to find, although, of course, walking in the gorgeous is irreplaceable.
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Absolutely irreplaceable. Yeah. And that's what hopefully with this that would inspire someone to say, hey, let's come out and check it out.
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You also work on the project for the Hagen History Museum.
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Oh, yes, I did.
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Yeah.
00:12:51.389 --> 00:12:53.009
What did you tell us about what that one was about?
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Yeah, that one was another cool one, that that kind of came right after pretty much the virtual hike of the Wintergreen Gorge concluded. And we were able to show them that down at The Hague History Center. And they really liked that for an exhibit of theirs that they were doing. They have a they have a telescope that they had gotten from Commodore Perry, his actual telescope, but they have that, you know, in a glass box there, of course, you know, you have to have it separated. So they wanted to do something to bring that artifact to life. And then they had a touchscreen directly next to it.
00:13:26.439 --> 00:13:51.219
And we were able to ultimately get that telescope scanned. So that then it could be like manipulated on the touchscreen, the person can flip it upside down or zoom in, and there's inscriptions on it. So you can zoom in and look at the inscriptions, as well, as we kind of created a little bit of a game out of it, where we had, like, we took a 360 picture out at the tip of Presque Isle. And then we had like a ship spotting game, or you would have the human kind of turn on the view.
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And you had a very little circle there. And it kind of showed you what it might have felt like to have to seek out ships on the horizon with his tiny little field of view. Because nowadays, we're so used to our phones, having telescopic, you know, zoom or being able to zoom out and see really wide field of view, but the field of view on this telescope was tiny.
00:14:10.109 --> 00:14:18.809
See what it was really like, exactly back when they had to do that. Yeah, well, really neat project and helped out the community and it still exists at Hagen History Museum.
00:14:18.809 --> 00:14:21.989
So wonderful outcome there.
00:14:18.809 --> 00:14:30.239
Let's talk about some of your other experiences here on campus. You were an ambassador, first and foremost, Lion ambassador. So what are the Lion Ambassadors do?
00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:49.139
Yeah, the Lion Ambassadors were a great organization. I was involved pretty much from day one that also helped, right? The first semester that I was here getting involved in Lion Ambassadors because so much pride Yeah, absolutely. So all eight semesters I was in that it was just, it's a great organization.
00:14:44.789 --> 00:15:05.639
We do a lot of events, we do stuff in the community and and then in particular on campus, we do you know, our kind of biggest thing is the midnight bingo. So that's that was a real blast. We put on I believe, five a semester and we have great prizes and hundreds of students in attendance.
00:15:05.699 --> 00:15:17.009
It is still amazing to me. I mean, Midnight bingo goes back. I don't know how many years but 25 years maybe on this campus, and it's a phenom, but sells out. You know, it's hundreds of kids show up at midnight.
00:15:17.089 --> 00:15:20.059
Yeah. And go.
00:15:17.089 --> 00:15:30.079
Yeah, it's a very, very popular event. And really, we typically hold it on a Friday. So are you at the end of that week having that it's just a very nice, you know, pick me up and got a lot of Behrend spirit there. That's for sure.
00:15:30.059 --> 00:15:43.079
Well, I'll tell you, we parents, family and alumni weekend this last year, I don't know if you were here. But there was a big game of midnight bingo going on during the day, but a lot of alumni parents and just filled the Junker center.
00:15:43.079 --> 00:15:50.279
So that was really, really cool to see. But you were also a UN ambassador in the Black School of Business as well.
00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:53.179
Yeah, certainly.
00:15:50.419 --> 00:16:22.129
And that was something so so as a lion ambassador. You're also involved in the open house and providing tours and whatnot. So I was giving tours around the whole of campus. And then that would have been maybe my second semester, I can't quite remember, but Hajec hasn't invited me to be a part of the business ambassadors. I mean, without one, you kind of had to learn a little bit about each of the majors that the business school offers. And then we would be kind of standing by your major's table during the open house and engaging with students and whatnot.
00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:26.869
So when you're a tour guide here on campus, you have to learn to walk backwards, is that correct?
00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:42.529
That is certainly correct. There's a lot of walking backwards and talking loudly. And it's interesting. I came from Pittsburgh, so I'm not at all scared of hills. But it is interesting that Erie is relatively flat, except for the Behrend campus, we decided to find a hill and put a campus on
00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:42.649
That we did. And some of the grades here. You it.
00:16:44.609 --> 00:17:26.789
know, I'm a cyclist. So I've gone and got the topo maps, you know, Jordan hill gets up to like 15% in some place. So, of course, we've got winding back and forth, keep it below 5%, for accessibility to. So yeah, we really appreciate that. It means a lot to the prospective students and families, all that great work that our ambassadors do. Let's talk about though your career now after you left Behrend, so very interestingly, you've got a career paths so far, that I don't recall any of our barons students going in this direction, at least not so early in their career, and that is no, you're the borough manager for Wesleyville. And so tell us like, how did you end up in this position?
00:17:26.970 --> 00:17:36.359
I don't know. I got lucky, I guess. Well, Wesleyville is I've heard it referred to actually I gotta give credit here by Amy Bridger.
00:17:33.389 --> 00:17:49.619
When we were talking about it, she said, college adjacent community, and we certainly are one, we're located just down the road. And I actually moved to Wesleyville. Once I moved off campus, I got an apartment there. And I lived there for several years. And living there.
00:17:49.619 --> 00:18:04.529
I really liked it. It's very walkable, very safe. There's a lot of front porches and people out riding bikes. So very, very nice community. And then, earlier this year, I just my neighbor and I were talking and we didn't even talk that much.
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:12.419
You know, it was just kind of random. And then he, we were talking and I mentioned how I was looking for things. And I didn't know what was out there.
00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:28.139
And I wanted to get more involved in the community. And then he said, Well, you know, there's, there's actually a job that will be opening up here soon for the borough manager position. So I got really excited about it hooked on it for several weeks, I was just like crafting my resume and my cover letter and the interview.
00:18:28.169 --> 00:18:42.929
Yeah, I was fixated. But then, you know, I went in and talked with them. And they, they liked it and decided that they'd give me a chance. So that's where we are now. That was that was in July, and then I started officially August 1, and it's been crazy since then.
00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:49.700
So your interview was that? Did you meet the mayor and the council members? And how did the interview process work?
00:18:49.929 --> 00:19:17.409
Yeah, so the way the government's set up there, there's a borough council consisting of seven members. And then there's also a borough mayor, and the council is really the the legislative body. And there there is a personnel committee there. So there were three members of the council, who I ended up interviewing with, and they then were able to offer me the job. And but yeah, in this position, I've worked very closely with all seven of the council members and the mayor that's there.
00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:24.190
Any trick questions like government related questions, or was it about project management, anything stick out?
00:19:24.419 --> 00:19:50.129
Um, there wasn't too much. There wasn't anything tricky. And they wanted somebody has nothing that was too much of a trick question or hard that I had to really wrack my brain about, but I do know, I mean, we talked a lot about the project management type stuff that I was doing. So the master's program that I'm in now, they were really excited about that. And I talked very extensively about the VAR lab and the many projects that I worked on there.
00:19:46.379 --> 00:20:09.899
And I had a lot to talk about. I think the biggest thing really was was talking about the stakeholder engagement because obviously a community you're just a bunch of stakeholders, you know, so many different businesses and residents and organizations on a regional level that you'd have to engage with. So having been able to show them that I did that effectively within the VAR lab, that won them over
00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:24.369
So that made the difference? What you were you did a lot when you were in the VAR lab here and very engaged and active. But you know, so tell us and it's probably hard to answer what's the typical day look like? So what's your job look like on a day in day out basis?
00:20:24.750 --> 00:20:27.720
It's craziness.
00:20:24.750 --> 00:21:12.990
That's for sure. There's a lot going on. And with Wesleyville, as much as I love Wesleyville is the community there, the organization over time, it's a small government, you know, local government and at its fallen behind in some key categories. And it's been difficult to keep up. So coming in there, there's a lot more modernizing that has had to take place that that's an interesting thing, too. With the VAR lab, I got very familiar with operating, using technologies, even simple stuff, like having a Microsoft Teams and, and utilizing a lot of that for file sharing, and everything, which a lot of what Wesleyville has operated has been actually still on paper, it's all very much on paper a lot more slow, and, and not as adaptable as now, you know, oh, let me go into the Excel and make some changes.
00:21:12.059 --> 00:21:15.839
And so trying to change the business processes?
00:21:15.809 --> 00:21:52.950
Yeah, there's a lot of utilize them. Yeah. So there's a lot of changing processes. And then also, the borough is there has a lot of project management and portfolio management that has to go on because the borough even though we're small, we have a portfolio of parks about a handful of parks, that these are assets that we need to think about, you know, plan for same way that we have 10 miles of roads that we own. So those are all assets that you need to think about and compare what is the next one that needs to be done? And how much is that going to cost? And and same with me, we have sewer system and wastewater or not wastewater stormwater system.
00:21:52.950 --> 00:22:29.279
And there's so there's a lot of assets that we have that coming in, I've been trying to get digitized, and then having a interactive portfolio that we can keep up on, and give us more of a view towards the future. So I would say the biggest thing on the day to day is really just managing the many projects that we have going on making sure that everything's kind of moving forward, you know, slowly but surely. And in this role, I've had to be very adaptable. I've had to be able to pivot quite a bit, that, you know, I'd be working on one thing hyperfocused. And then some President calls in with a problem that I need to jump and fix that real quick. So there's a lot of back and forth and everything there.
00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:31.437
So well, you've been in the position less than
00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:36.049
I certainly am, yes.
00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:34.849
Do you have to get involved in the political six months, but it sounds like you're really having a lot of fun.
00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:42.829
side of it at all? Or do you are you able to largely navigate away from that.
00:22:42.980 --> 00:23:19.460
That's the part, I'm kind of glad that I didn't...that this is an appointed position. So I'm appointed by the Borough Council. So I didn't have to be elected. I didn't have to go through some campaign or anything like that. So I do really like that I got the opportunity to work for the community, like immediately, and I can kind of show my value or what I can provide to the community through action. So I like that. I have, you know, the political atmosphere like obviously, our council is is elected and our mayor's elected and stuff. So there's a little bit of that. But the biggest thing that I've gotten involved on a regional level, there's a Council of Governments.
00:23:19.059 --> 00:23:23.259
The Erie County Council of Governments or COG.
00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:50.990
Yeah, Erie Area Council of government. So that's consisting of a bunch of municipalities. So representing Wesleyville there are going to our metropolitan planning organization, where they're the ones who divvy out the federal money for the infrastructure projects and whatnot. So there's a lot, I didn't even realize just how much Wesleyville has to be a part of all these different organizations, and we don't have to, but if we don't, we're missing out on a lot of potential value that's there.
00:23:50.990 --> 00:23:53.240
You're applying for any grants? I mean, is that part of what you do?
00:23:53.059 --> 00:25:27.289
Oh yes, yeah, as the borough manager, I'm kind of that position is the one that is really tasked with lining up the grants and putting out the application. So we've done quite a lot on that front, too, when when I first came in, we didn't really have much organization at all for like, the grants process. You know, we didn't have a portfolio of all of them, and we didn't, so we've kind of been winging it. But even before getting there, we've historically actually been very successful at grants. The story for Wesley village there, you know, we can make our case and when the case is made, we often get the money that goes towards projects. So we've been able to revamp a couple of our parks within the last few years. For just this year, there was a really big grant that came through and I had no part of this this was before me $1.2 million from Penn dots greenlights go program. And that's Yeah, huge. We have five signalized intersections within our within our borough and all of them are completely outdated, don't meet modern ADA accessibility standards and stuff like that. So this one grant application 1.2 million is going to be able to knock out four of those transformational for the community, huge transfer A huge transformation. So that's a really big one. And then we've put in other grants for resurfacing we just put in, like I think two weeks ago $1 million for Euclid Boulevard in West Louisville. Euclid is a really, really bad road. It's long, it's wide. And it's concrete which is really the problem that over time the concrete has shifted.
00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:45.259
And now you can't just mill it down and resurface it you need to pretty much rip out all the concrete and start the road from scratch. So this one probably that one road is likely 1.5 million or more. So we were able to put in a $1 million grant for that so at least we can do it chunk by chunk, but fingers crossed on that one we haven't.
00:25:45.059 --> 00:26:12.629
Wow sounds like you're jumped right in and you've got a lot of projects going you know wisely Ville is a it's an interesting it's a really, you know, like you said neat community you found a place that you really love it was founded in 1912. And it was named after John Wesley obviously Wesleyville is pretty common or the name Wesley who is for those who don't know, the founder of Methodism. How would you describe that community though today? What's your description when people say tell me about Wesleyville?
00:26:12.839 --> 00:27:45.990
Yeah, well, as you said, a lot of West Louisville was built in the early 1900s. So that's the way that we developed as a community is very different than communities that developed in the second half of the 20th century, the houses there are more dense, there were actually dense enough to be considered urban, even though living there I never thought of it as an urban community. But but it is, technically there's that threshold were dense enough to be urban. And there's sidewalks in front porches, and it's very walkable and bikable, which other communities that have developed later, you might not see sidewalks as widespread as they are in Wesleyville. So as a community, that's really the big thing is that the fabric of the community, I would say is very community oriented. And then we do have a traditional style business district as well along buffalo road, so very heavily trafficked a lot of potential as it sits today. Coming into it, the business district is not something that we're super proud of. I mean, over the last several decades, it's been very it's struggled, we've seen a lot more lost than we've seen gain there. And it's slowly you know, it has, over time deteriorated to some degree, but it's not at all too far gone. And it's definitely it's it's able to be revamped. And when when it does, we will have a very unique entry like a gateway to West Louisville. And then once you're in West Louisville, it will be you'll have walkable and bikable business district with a variety of small storefronts for more mom and pop kind of businesses.
00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:48.629
And yeah, so that's, that's pretty much.
00:27:48.899 --> 00:28:08.009
You're looking forward, you're already thinking 5 or 10 years out, because that sort of transformation. And like you said it is it's a neat community, you know, you've got the nice storefronts there. A lot of that, you know, little time, you're gonna find some funding, you find the right businesses, and before you know it, the community really starts to look different.
00:28:08.190 --> 00:29:04.980
Yeah, absolutely, definitely have to think, you know, 5 or 10 years out. And I'm really optimistic about it. I think that the case is there 100% For there's a lot of economic development grants available for creating a nicer, more like Main Street business district. And we're, yeah, I'm very confident in our ability to improve that. And I think the return on the investment for an area like ours is going to be so much greater than maybe elsewhere, because we're, you know, a couple planters or a couple nice fresh bus stops. You know, it goes a long way. We only have literally the whole of West Louisville, we didn't talk about that much yet. But it's one mile by half a mile. So the entire like thing is point five square miles. So it's not a very big community. But it's big enough that I mean, we got to think about everything. But when we start to do a couple things, it will really the return will be seen felt very immediately.
00:29:05.649 --> 00:29:20.319
Well, let's switch a little bit back to Penn State. You got your undergraduate degrees here, but you're also pursuing a master's of project management. And my guess is that through our Penn State World Campus, but it's a Behrend program. So how's that going?
00:29:20.589 --> 00:29:30.970
Yeah, so that's going very well, I'm I'm just, it's it was finals week at this point. So just finished my final for nine out of the 10 classes.
00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:41.919
So I'm done. Now. one more class, one more class in the spring, and then I'll be graduated so anticipated in May 24. But the program has been great. From the very beginning.
00:29:38.649 --> 00:30:13.299
I started that immediately after graduating in 2022. I just knew that that's I really liked project management. Because by that point, I had already had involvement in the lab and I really liked that project oriented thinking. And then so far, it's it's been all online, but all of my professors are located here at Behrend. So it's been at times I even went in and talked to them in their office hours in person. So That's pretty unique. And other than that the way the classes are structured online, I've been very impressed, very nicely laid out and very informative.
00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:18.639
It's a tremendous program. Yeah, we've had it for a number of years.
00:30:15.429 --> 00:30:28.539
And, you know, like you said, a lot of good outcomes. And it doesn't matter if you're, you know, in technology development or running projects. We all run projects in life and must be fit in really well with what you're doing on Wednesday.
00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:49.267
Yeah, there's a lot of people I've talked to about that program is, especially people in it. And there's so many people who are unofficial project managers that their day to day is project management, and they don't even realize it. So that program is really good for I would say anybody. And in terms of choosing the program, initially, I was looking for, I was looking around for project management.
00:30:49.318 --> 00:31:01.596
And I pretty much already settled on Behrend, I was like, this is where I, you know, I'm going to be in this program. But when I wanted to just I was curious. And I just wanted to see what the ranking was like.
00:30:58.605 --> 00:31:13.668
So I just looked up project management masters online, or not, not online, just master's programs. And then I was scrolling through, I think it was like a top 25 list, you know, and I was just scrolling and started at 25. So I'm scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.
00:31:13.721 --> 00:31:22.851
And I was getting to a point where I was like, alright, top 10 and top five, like, I'm really getting, like, is it not gonna be on this list at all?
00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:24.710
And then sure enough, it was actually number one program listed.
00:31:24.710 --> 00:31:28.399
Yeah. So it is a well developed well respected programs. Yeah.
00:31:28.399 --> 00:31:37.573
And seeing that really gave me a lot of confidence. Like, wow, this is a it's a legit program. And it's a it's administered out of Baron like it was like, This is great.
00:31:37.627 --> 00:31:39.799
This is exactly what I'm supposed to do.
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:41.899
Well, we are coming to the end of the show.
00:31:41.948 --> 00:31:44.928
I'll give you the last word.
00:31:41.948 --> 00:31:47.029
What's next for you? What do you see is the next steps in your career life?
00:31:47.029 --> 00:31:49.308
I would say at least the next couple of years.
00:31:49.357 --> 00:31:58.375
Wesley will. So you know, past that. I don't know. i If you asked me two years ago, where I'd be right now. I wouldn't say I wouldn't say as a borough manager. So yeah, I don't know.
00:31:58.424 --> 00:32:06.649
But definitely in this area. I like West Louisville, and I like the Erie region. And I like Western Pennsylvania. So definitely sticking around here.
00:32:04.221 --> 00:32:06.649
That's for sure.
00:32:06.649 --> 00:32:16.294
Well, that's great to hear. Because we need young smart people like you in the community. And it's a hard question that I asked you so sorry to put you on the spot.
00:32:16.354 --> 00:32:27.529
But thanks for joining us. My guest today has been Marcus Jacobs and Marcus is a Penn State Behrend 2022 graduate who is now the borough manager for Wesleyville. Thanks for being here today.
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:28.460
Thank you for having me.
