Graduating West Pointer talked ‘Main St.’ at meeting
U.S. Military Academy Cadet Alex Davis graduates in just a few weeks, but took the time recently to not only offer Highland Falls and Fort Montgomery merchants her advise on cadets as customers in the future, but even offered to help facilitate that relationship.
Davis was with Dr. Alyssa Young, who lives in Highland Falls and teaches at the Academy. Davis took Young’s class on entrepreneurship this semester. She said she loved it, especially studying the relationship between local merchants and cadets.
“I will tell you first off that the biggest service cadets use in your community is food service, just like on any college campus in America,” she said. In conducting a survey to over 500 cadets, she said she learned that businesses need to find a better way to get their information out to cadets — namely using social media.
“I would definitely attack Instagram,” Davis said, when asked what social media platform cadets use most. She also suggested setting up some sort of committee, or point person, to maintain an app of Highland Falls services combined. (A second popular service cadets use from outside the gate, she added, is having laundry done.)
She was asked how cadets — or their visiting families — search for places to eat in Highland Falls. Her response was that most “have relationships” with the food establishments, particularly those which deliver. But again, she said, social media is where they spent their most time online.
Her comments led to quite a few questions from older persons in the room, who perhaps don’t use social media, or apps that allow for payment.
“We don’t really use cash anymore,” she said of the Corps of Cadets. “We use Venmo and Apple Pay, and Paypal for very large purchases.”
When asked if cadets felt confident paying for local services electronically, she said yes, adding that “this community is so ingrained in West Point’s culture, we don’t question transactions in Highland Falls.”
Davis suggest that the local businesses make use of West Point’s master calendars to be ready for big weekends at the academy, where there are families, tourists, reunions, sports activities. That’s the area she offered help with, saying “I don’t think it would be too difficult to hop that information right over the gate”.
That would have to work through West Point’s Public Affairs Office, of which there were two representatives — Jim Fox and Dave Brzywczy — in attendance at the meeting. They are ‘regulars’ at Chamber meetings.
Davis’ presentation was well received — it was just an overview of an actual report she is putting together as she finishes the project for her class. Once done, it will be forwarded to Chamber President Jim Modlin and others, to be disseminated among local businesses and chamber members.
“I think we can learn a lot from Cadet Davis’ work,” Modlin said as he thanked her for attending the meeting.
