Job Fair Seeks to Retain Talent.
Detroit Free Press - March 2008 - By Margarita Bauza
Brian Balasia, an ambitious 2003 graduate of the University of Michigan, wants to stop the exodus of Michigan's young talent going to other states.

He has spent the last three years touting a plan that would help connect students with small, emerging firms -- companies Balasia said have the potential of becoming the next Microsoft.

"We have the resources of major cities -- universities and talented workforce," he added. "You have access to everything."

Balasia, 26, will see the first fruits of his work on March 19 when the University of Michigan hosts a job fair that will bring together small companies that usually don't participate in such events.

The fair, to be held at the university's College of Engineering, is the first event held under the auspices of the MORE Program, an effort Balasia and a group of young Detroit entrepreneurs got off the ground in November after receiving a $5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Balasia hopes the career fair will be the first in a series of initiatives that draws tech firms to Michigan. Such efforts could keep talent in the state, he said.

His efforts became his calling in 2001 after he founded Digerati -- a Detroit-based tech company -- while a sophomore at U-M.

"Employers kept saying they couldn't find talent, and students were saying they couldn't find work," Balasia said. "There was a clear disconnect."

He also discovered that students who left Michigan for better jobs were in fact not finding better opportunities. They often took low-paying jobs while they waited to land an acceptable one.

That encouraged Balasia to pursue his mission. Detroit is hungrier for entrepreneurs than any other place in the United States, he argues.

"There's a lower barrier of entry here," he said. "It's easier than in other major cities. The cost of living is cheaper."

The job fair has attracted a large contingent of volunteers from the business community as well as students from the University of Michigan.

MPowered Entrepreneurship, a group of 70 U-M students who help students find such opportunities, has been a force in getting things going.

The group is registering students, recruiting companies and has traveled around the state filming informational videos of companies that are to participate in the job fair.

The videos contain interviews with CEOs and employees, as well as footage of workspace and products so that students can learn about the companies prior to attending the job fair.

The group has registered 60 Michigan employers and companies interested in moving to the state.

It expects more than 1,000 students to attend. The fair is free for students.

The MORE Program is also in the process of creating entrepreneurial internships that give students seed money to use on their business ideas.

Balasia hopes MORE will grow to other Michigan universities.

Aerospace engineering student Michelle Cheng said she hopes firms provide interesting internship possibilities.

"I think the internships are going to be different," said Cheng, 20, of New Jersey. "They will let you have full impact. It's not going to be a case where you're doing paperwork for them in the back."

Brian Tell, president of ShadePlex, a two-person company based in Ypsilanti, will be recruiting at the fair.

The start-up company doesn't have time to recruit full-time.

"We are looking to find someone to support our work who will stick around," Tell said.