A sense of community is what keeps the world together. In York, Pennsylvania, there's a development project in the works that will change the city forever. York College has never been a stranger to change, but one thing that hasn't changed is our commitment to our community. Located near South Penn Street and Kings Mill Road, what used to be the Schmidt and Ault Paper Mill will be renovated and transformed into York College's Knowledge Park. This paper mill has a rich history in the city of York. It had employed hundreds of workers and has impacted many people's lives in the community.

My grandfather worked at Schmidt and Ault. Every year, the company would host a Christmas party for the families, which is children and grandchildren of the employees. So as a very little girl, we used to go over there. So then watching it close was like, "Wow, what's going to happen to that building?" Over the years, seeing it just kind of fall by the wayside, it was very disheartening.

This plant flourished for over 200 years until it sadly closed its doors in 2000, but now York College is looking to breathe new life into the area. The Knowledge Park will open avenues to more opportunities for students to have hands-on experiences through connections with CEOs and businesses in their industry, leading them to take ownership of their major and network with companies that will yield to internships, project-based learning and research opportunities.

To me, it's all about the students. I get energized when I walk in the classroom and engage students in a topic. One of the things that we have to do as faculty is to stay current within our discipline. Some of these collaborations with the Knowledge Park could lead to consulting opportunities, partnering up right alongside the practicing engineers to solve some of their more challenging problems.

York College's Knowledge Park will assist the faculty in providing the tools students need to build a clear path towards their career. This state-of-the-art facility will encourage and promote an environment where creativity and knowledge can flourish. Together, we will build bridges that will lead to a brighter future.

I think the biggest benefit in general is to tear down sort of that barrier between academia and industry. With that Knowledge Park here, yeah, it's really going to tear down those walls of separation and really bring us together. And I think that's, if nothing else, that's the number one advantage of that Knowledge Park.

Here we are at Knowledge Park and it's transformative. And I think it's just a wonderful opportunity for the community, for the college, for our businesses, for our nonprofits. It's a win-win-win all around and I'm just so excited.