Since its founding in 2014, Rock Lititz has been dedicated to developing talent in the live entertainment industry.
Andrea Shirk, CEO of Global Entertainment Properties, said industries that needed employees at the time are growing rapidly and with it the demand for workers.
“Most people don’t realize how many employees a concert requires,” Mr. Shirk said during a recent tour of the 100-acre site. “We had to help people understand what the jobs are.”
Shirk said most universities don’t have programs geared toward the live entertainment industry outside of theater.
“As a business, we have had to recruit and train employees because there is no talent pool to draw from,” she said.
With that recognition, Rock Lititz has created several programs that extend into middle school, high school and college, Shirk said.
Rock Lititz, with support from the Lancaster STEM Alliance, has launched a pilot program for middle schools called “Rock Box.”
“In middle school, creative students are being left behind,” she says, “so we decided to create a program to distribute mini road cases with Taylor Swift microphones to middle schools across Lancaster County.”
Similar to a locked box where you figure out how to open it using hints, the lock box will give students hints about each live entertainment department, Shirk said.
“This gives kids exposure to different jobs within the industry,” she said.
For the past seven years, Rock Lititz has been hosting Experience Live for high school students, a day-long immersive experience where students can get hands-on demonstrations of each industry job and learn how to put on large-scale productions like concert tours, plays, amusement park interactions, sporting events and even electronic games, Shirk said.
“We are talking about evolving the process of hosting live events,” she said.
Last year, 250 students participated, learning everything from how to put on a flight harness to programming lights and sound.
“Finally, we have a ‘path to professionals’ that shows students how to get the job they want,” she said, adding that not all jobs require a four-year college degree.
Each fall, Rock Lititz hosts 500 college students and young professionals interested in learning industry know-how, she said.
“This will give you access to gear demonstrations, conversations with industry experts, face-to-face interactions with employers and more to gain a deeper insight into our live events specialization,” Shirk said.
“Through events like these, we are able to send talent from Lititz out across the world and support the industry,” she added.
The campus, which is home to 40 companies that support live entertainment, hosted 30 interns this year, many of whom ended up being hired, Shirk said.
“Our goal is to get people interested in the industry, continue to support our customers and expand the talent pool,” Shirk said.