After graduating from Eastern, many students decide to shoot for the stars and head for the big city; however, for some students, Charleston offers the jobs they need.

Currently, more than 2,000 alumni call Charleston home, which is about one-fifth of the town’s non-student population. Another 4,000 alumni are dispersed throughout Coles County.

Mayor Dan Cougill said Charleston has a lot of high technology job opportunities as well as a small town appeal that some students like.

Businesses like McLeod USA, R & R Donnelly’s and Sons, Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company, Mattoon Precision and Scholastic Recognition all offer the types of jobs that Eastern students have trained for, Cougill said.

Many students chase after the dream of going to a big city when they first graduate, but then later decide to come back to Charleston because of the atmosphere, Cougill said.

“It is the quality of life that people find around here,” he said.

Charleston is a good place to begin a family, and many people come back here because it is safe, he said.

However, Cougill said the city would like to keep more students in town by bringing in industry in which they can use their skills.

The city would like to establish something like what is already in place in Champaign County where the city would pair up with the colleges to find ways to market the city and find more jobs for graduates, Cougill said. The University of Illinois and Parkland College have a program called Tech Comm Unity that helps get small businesses started and seeks out high technology industries to come into the area.

Cougill would like to start a similar program in Charleston, so the city can become more marketable to businesses, and more students can find jobs. One way the city wants to begin helping students is by assisting them financially when they want to begin their own business.