Mayor Robert Chestnut, elected in April, said one of his top priorities as mayor was to provide University graduates with more job opportunities around Lawrence.

Chestnut said that the city relied on the University to be the economic driver for the community, but that a main goal of the city’s economic development plan was to create jobs for graduates.

“What we’re really trying to do with the economic development policy is to create some diversity,” Chestnut said. “I would like to see a little bit more diversity where we do have sort of a smaller economic engine, more business and things for the community.”

Mike Dever, city commissioner, said there were many benefits to keeping University graduates in Lawrence.

“Primarily, they are people who already care about Lawrence and have an affinity for Lawrence,” Dever said. “By keeping them here we already have a captive audience of people who are well educated, who already know about the community and who are likely to offer great skills to potential employers and start their own businesses if they want to.”

Vice mayor Mike Amyx, said he agreed that it was important to keep graduates in Lawrence because they could contribute to the community.

“Realizing the education that these kids have and how much they bring to the city of Lawrence, it’s extremely important to come up with such a way to able to find them jobs that they will be able to make livings at and be able to buy homes,” Amyx said.

Allie Rogers, 2009 graduate, said she never considered staying in Lawrence after graduating. Rogers said she preferred a larger city atmosphere and thought it would be harder to find a job in Lawrence.

“There really isn’t anything for graduates here in Lawrence,” Rogers said. “I don’t know anyone who’s like ‘Yeah, I want to stay in Lawrence after I graduate.’”

Allie Wilmes, 2009 graduate, said she loved living in Lawrence, but would move on after her lease finished.

“I’m looking for a bigger city that has more to offer me,” Wilmes said. “It’s too much of a college town. It’s time for change.”

Chestnut said that Lawrence hadn’t provided enough jobs for graduates in the past and that even though he spent most of his life here, he never considered finding a job in Lawrence after he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University.

“Lawrence has just never been a community that has had a lot of opportunities,” Chestnut said. “The thing that I’m really disappointed in is we’re not offering enough job opportunities for graduates.”

Chestnut said one place for possible employment for graduates was the new Lawrence Regional Life Sciences Incubator, which provides lab space to the University and outside firms. He said the Lawrence Douglas-County Bioscience Authority was using funds to attract organizations that would be interested in being involved with the new facility, which would provide more jobs.

“Hopefully they kind of take root in the community,” Chestnut said.

Amyx said the new incubator would benefit the University and the Lawrence community by providing more job opportunities in research. He said being able to assist in that research would help new small companies come to Lawrence and would develop them into businesses in the community.

Before becoming mayor, Chestnut served on the city commission. He first won a spot in April 2007.

“There was a lot of angst with what was going on in the community for four or five years,” Chestnut said. “I’m not really a politician, but I saw what the issues were and felt like I could help what was going on,”

Amyx said Chestnut was a great representative for the Lawrence community.

“He really understands about all walks of life and represents them very well,” Amyx said. “Rob has a very youthful attitude. He understands budget with his background in chief financial officer.”

Dever said he couldn’t think of a better person to represent the city.

“He’s a Lawrence native. He grew up in Lawrence. He knows a lot about Lawrence. He knows a lot of people. He is CEO of a Lawrence company,” Dever said.

Chestnut said he liked Lawrence because of the diversity the University brings to the town.

“I think it’s just a unique university for the size,” Chestnut said. “It has a lot of what I consider the cultural identity aspects of a larger community without being two million people and too big.”

— — Edited by Annie Vangsnes