Photo provided by FresnoStateNews.com

“I love Fresno; I never want to move.â€Â

So said Ashley Swearengin, the seven-year director of Fresno State̢۪s Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED).

No, she wasn̢۪t kidding. While some students may be planning to move out in search of lucrative careers after graduation, this non-Fresno native stayed put, and is reaping the benefits.

OCED, a public-private partnership that serves as a bridge between the university̢۪s ability to generate ideas and regional economic development initiatives, has become a model for a growing number of such partnerships at both the university and regional level.

Community involvement, and seeing the potential for economic growth wherever it may lie, is a big part of the two main projects Swearengin is responsible for running — the Regional Jobs Initiative (RJI) and the Governor’s Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.

“My basic task was to connect the resources of the university to the region to improve quality of life,â€Â Swearengin said.

From aiding students and other budding entrepreneurs in starting up their businesses at the Lyles Center, to lobbying the government for more economic investment, to sitting down with business leaders and getting them to help their competitors — for the greater regional good, Swearengin is very much invested in both the community and campus sides of the business ledger, and indeed can point to some major successes.

“Water technology is the model,â€Â said Swearengin, referring to the new International Water Technology Center at Fresno State

The International Water Technology Center is a collaborative venture between the university and the San Joaquin Water Technology Cluster, a group of more than two dozen manufacturers of water products. Swearengin has been pushing these collaborative ventures.

Swearengin̢۪s public profile was such that she was appointed to the California Commission for Economic Development, a state economic advisory board, by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last July.

It is Swearengin̢۪s desire for economic innovation and expansion that̢۪s led her to her next major task: running for mayor of Fresno.

Swearengin announced her bid for mayor Nov. 14, joining a crowded field of seven candidates, all the rest of them male. If elected, Swearengin would be just the second woman mayor in Fresno̢۪s history, and the first since Karen Humphrey̢۪s one term ended in 1993.

Not surprisingly, business is a big part of Swearengin̢۪s campaign.

Swearengin envisions Fresno — better known for its robust agriculture and Fresno State athletics — as the future regional hub of a vibrant economy, one of cutting-edge technology, research, innovative entrepreneurship — of ideas.

In the new knowledge-based economy, ideas are tangible, Swearengin said.

“To be successful, it’s all about having the best and brightest people,â€Â Swearengin said.

The four cornerstones of a Swearengin administration, according to her campaign Web site, would be: jobs and education, safe and quality neighborhoods, effective and responsive government, and regional leadership.

The jobs and education component is the “biggie,â€Â Allyson Robison said in an e-mail to The Collegian. Robison served as a communications assistant and project coordinator in the OCED under Swearengin.

“Ashley can inspire people to work together, and when they work together, they solve problems,â€Â Robison said.

Swearengin̢۪s qualifications were similarly touted by Marcia Martin, currently an OCED communications assistant and 2002 Fresno State graduate.

“She knows the ins and outs of how to get funding and support for RJI,â€Â Martin said. “She’s so involved in every aspect of the partnership.â€Â

Born in Texas and raised in Arkansas, Swearengin moved to Fresno with her family in 1987 when she was still in high school.

First attending Clovis West High School before finishing up at Fresno Christian High School, Swearengin received a scholarship that proved to be the defining moment of her career path.

“I received the Rodman Scholarship in order to go to Fresno State,â€Â Swearengin said.

She said her parents offered to pay for her college education, but only as far as community college.

“My parents told me I could go to community college and ‘we’ll pay for it like we did for your sister,’â€Â Swearengin said.

Wishing to start college at a four-year institution, Swearengin skipped out on community college and her parents̢۪ financial support and went directly to Fresno State, which the scholarship helped pay for.

Swearengin was a business major from the get-go, developing on interests she picked up in high school and earlier, but her original emphasis was in marketing.

In fact, she worked her senior year of high school as a marketing director of a health care company.

While working full-time, Swearengin completed her undergraduate degree in December 1994, then took a semester off before getting into graduate school in the fall of 1995.

“At that time, I was working as the marketing director of two different law firms,â€Â Swearengin said.

Graduate school proved to be the pivotal moment in Swearengin̢۪s career. She took an entrepreneurship class from Tim Stearns, director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. But what she got out of the class was much different from what she anticipated.

“I needed to take the class to get credit for marketing,â€Â Swearengin said. “But I learned I had a huge entrepreneurial streak. It was very impactful.

I asked Tim if there was any job in sales. [Seeing my entrepreneurial potential], he recommended Central Valley Business Incubator. I never before considered working in a non-profit environment.â€Â

Central Valley Business Incubator is a non-profit business and technical assistance program for new Fresno businesses.

Swearengin said the goals of Central Valley Business Incubator matched her own.

“I wanted to help the local economy and help businesses grow,â€Â Swearengin said.

“Just like a chicken incubator provides support to make chicks hatch, so a business incubator makes a business plan hatch.â€Â

As the 1990s came to a close, Swearengin said she found herself in a “crosshairsâ€Â – she discovered she loved to see a business grow, and she also loved to help the community. “In the middle is economic development,â€Â Swearengin said.

She joined the Futures Institute (now the OCED) as its director in 2000, where she plunged into an academic and commercial world of divergent interests aiming to bring people together and help the local economy.

“This university is light years ahead of other universities in the region,â€Â Swearengin said regarding community outreach.

“Embedded in each business is a community outlet,â€Â Swearengin said.

She said it was a result of President John D. Welty’s long-term vision that “our university should positively impact the region … this has completely permeated the culture at this university.â€Â

Swearengin said her approach to solving problems as mayor wouldn̢۪t be much different to what she is doing now.

“I will make sure this region isn’t left behind,â€Â Swearengin said, referring to the fact the San Joaquin Valley is often overlooked when it comes to federal economic investment. “I want to continue the work of the partnership. [Mayor Alan] Autry has already led in this.

“We in the Valley, in a short time, are further down the path than the rest of the state,â€Â Swearengin said. “We’re doing a lot of things right.â€Â

The always-busy Swearengin acknowledged that “It’s not intuitive for me to rest. The truth is, I just love what I do.â€Â She also has a young family to take care of.

Swearengin said she does have hobbies, but they̢۪re mostly business-related.

“My hobby right now is running a mayoral campaign,â€Â she said. “Loving this city is a hobby.â€Â

As for Fresno area students who have heard their share of Fresno jokes over the years and are thinking of moving away after graduation, Swearengin has this advice: Think again.

“For young people, there’s no better place than Fresno,â€Â Swearengin said.