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Just an hour’s drive from 51��Ʒ��Ƶsburgh, Fayette County is home to some of Pennsylvania’s most scenic areas, including Ohiopyle State Park, the Laurel Highlands and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Once a major player in the coal and coke industry, most of Fayette County’s coal mines were exhausted by the 1950s. This contributed to a population decline from 200,000 in 1940 to just 128,000 today. A key factor in this loss is “brain drain,” the outmigration of skilled workers seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

The Appalachian Bridges to the Future project is a 10-year partnership between the 51��Ʒ��Ƶ and the Fayette County Cultural Trust aimed at addressing outmigration while fostering sustainable economic growth. Now in its fourth year, the initiative connects 51��Ʒ��Ƶ students with community partners to tackle local challenges through service learning. Collaborating with nearly 100 local organizations, students engage in projects that promote economic resilience with a focus on long-term environmental impact.

Recently, Second Nature, a nonprofit advancing climate action in higher education, honored the project with a for its efforts to “advance climate solutions in underserved Appalachian communities.” Michele Madia, senior director at Second Nature, noted, “The exemplary climate action work underway with their Appalachian Bridges to the Future project is a testament to the critical role the higher education sector plays in creating equitable climate solutions.”

Service-informed scholarship

A core interdisciplinary faculty team — , , and — works alongside students and community members to tackle real-life issues based on the community’s needs. Funded by the David C. Frederick Honors College Scholar Community initiative, the project emphasizes social responsibility and interdisciplinary experiences, offering students unique opportunities for engagement and learning aimed at driving positive change.

“The Appalachian Bridges to the Future project truly represents the vision of scholar community engagement,” said Catherine G. Cordova, director of community engaged learning at 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s Frederick Honors College. “Our framework integrates high-impact practices rooted in academic inquiry, cultural competency and holistic growth, ensuring students make meaningful contributions through service-learning and community engagement.”

For students like Maddie McCann-Colvard (CBA ’26), who participated in the business cohort in fall 2024, the project was an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge while working in a region that hit close to home. McCann-Colvard, whose parents left rural Appalachia for better job prospects, saw the project as a way to address the very issue that had shaped her family’s journey: brain drain.

“The opportunity to work on something that could help bring people back to Fayette County was personal,” McCann-Colvard said. Her team organized marketing lessons for local entrepreneurs and planned a career fair, equipping residents with tools to grow their businesses and retain younger generations in the area.

Colleen O’Hare Barrows (A&S ’25) and the project’s engineering sustainability cohort initially envisioned repurposing existing manufacturing spaces to integrate Uniontown, the county seat, into the emerging Appalachian space industry. But meetings with local government officials revealed more immediate organizational issues that needed attention to support financial growth. “It was important for us to be responsive to the community’s needs,” O’Hare Barrows said, and her team shifted their focus to creating an organizational chart for City Hall, laying the groundwork for future federal and state funding opportunities.

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“The engine of these outcomes, of course, is the students,” said Schultz, director of global experiences in the College of Business Administration. “Their enthusiasm has led to the development of critical transferable skills, real-world problem-solving experience and an understanding of the incremental nature of long-term community-focused work. Our collective efforts toward economic development in Fayette County will, hopefully, move the needle.”

Michael Edwards, president of the Fayette County Cultural Trust, has witnessed the impacts of the Appalachian Bridges to the Future project firsthand.

A key achievement for the trust was the launch of an asset map that highlights Fayette County’s cultural and natural resources. That project has prompted conversations on tourism, transportation and economic development, inspiring the community to envision a more sustainable future and strategically grow the economy while preserving its heritage and natural beauty. “The opportunity to watch local residents engage in their community and take pride in their assets has been incredibly rewarding,” Edwards said.

The unique 10-year commitment of this project has allowed stakeholders lay a strong foundation for continued collaboration. Looking ahead, the partnership plans to explore renewable energy solutions, support environmental remediation and promote sustainable tourism, creating a road map for economic growth that could serve as a model for other rural communities facing similar challenges.

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Photography by Tom Altany