WalshWorld/ALUMNI

Dresser officials say private education a key to recruiting By Chris Chapman Olean Times Herald Friday, December 11, 2009 OLEAN - A revitalized academic program at Archbishop Walsh Academy can only benefit the whole of the Greater Olean area, the president and CEO of Dresser-Rand said to a group of community and business leaders Thursday. Vince Volpe gave Olean-area leaders an overview of the process that has brought what used to be Archbishop Walsh High School through to Archbishop Walsh Academy during a luncheon at the Bartlett Country Club. The process has seen the asset merger of the school with its elementary sibling, Southern Tier Catholic School. A strong private, Catholic education, Mr. Volpe said, is an important force that can help revive Olean and the surrounding area to what it once was. “Olean used to have a strong private and public education system and thriving industry,” he said. “That helped keep the tax base reasonable because people were employed.” One of the things that has led to the decline of the area, Mr. Volpe contended, is the loss of that strong private education in the area. Over the past year, under the direction of Mr. Volpe and Beth Powers, a Walsh board member and project manager for the restructuring, there has been an effort to rebuild Archbishop Walsh into the school that it once was. “A strong private education should have strong academics, discipline and a strong sense of values,” Mr. Volpe said. “But that is not to say that the public school system is part of the problem, either.” Quite to the contrary, Mrs. Powers said the public school in the area is a great asset. “I have talked with Colleen Taggerty (superintendent of the Olean City School District), and she has been very supportive,” Mrs. Powers said, noting that a vibrant private high school in the area would raise educational standards in the public schools as well. She noted that Walsh is continuing the process of being certified as an International Baccalaureate school, which would add Walsh to a small percentage of such schools in the nation. The need for a strong private education system plays into the rebirth of the Olean area, Mr. Volpe said. “When employers bring potential employees into the area, one of the things they look at is the education system,” he said. “Several of the area businesses have lost out on quality employees because of the lack of that strong education system.” “When employers bring potential employees into the area, one of the things they look at is the education system,” he said. “Several of the area businesses have lost out on quality employees because of the lack of that strong education system.” Mr. Volpe said that the combination of education and infrastructure has a direct correlation to the headquarters of Dresser-Rand moving from Olean to its location in Houston. “This is a beautiful area, once you get here,” he said. “Olean is not an easy place to get in and out of.” Educationally, he said recruiting to the area suffered because of the lack of private education. “We could not get them (potential employees) in here,” he said. “Eventually, the board said we needed to move to Houston.” Once there, there was little problem with recruiting. Mr. Volpe said that the total combined salaries of those that were recruited to the Houston headquarters is $10 million. “That’s $10 million that could have been here,” he said. With that, he and Mrs. Powers introduced the next step in the Walsh restructuring process. “As I said to begin,” Mr. Volpe said, “there needs to be a transformation from the few to the many, and that is where all of you (community leaders) come in.” He said the leaders could expect to get a call from Walsh, looking for support. “It doesn’t have to be monetary support,” he said. “It could be names of potential students or teachers as well.”