Pitt-Johnstown students who are looking for something fun to do during weekends, in the near future, may find themselves spending more time in local destinations.
An online mobile application called ‘Allegheny Underground,’ developed by five Pitt-Johnstown students from different majors, is to be launched in June to provide destinations for all kinds of activities in Johnstown and the surrounding area.
“This will bring life to the Johnstown area and revitalize businesses,” said Claire Letts, the app’s curator and content developer, who is also a sophomore majoring in marketing.
The idea was first developed by James Towers in an entrepreneurship class in the fall semester, and the project is now managed by freshman Daniel Klein, a student who enrolled in the same class this semester.
“We’re focused on getting the word out about how much there actually is to do in our area, often just a few minutes from campus,” said Klein.
According to him, the project received a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies. An estimated $3.24 million to $4.32 million in revenue will be generated every year, according to a Towers’ presentation.
The app’s target users are high school students, college students, and young professionals age 16 to 25.
In addition to advertising destinations, other features of the App will include integrated navigation and new bus route information.
According to Klein, team members are building a project website which is to be available in late March at alleghenyunderground.com.
“It will be available on both iTunes and Google Play in early June,” he said.
Regarding the business model, internships are used to cover costs on content curation and partnerships for events. Promotional programs with business are anticipated in advanced stages.
Marketing Professor Skip Glenn worked as an adviser for the student developers. Glenn said the biggest challenge is to provide a minimum viable product for users.
He said although there are many features the team members want to provide, they will take it step by step to ensure that the product is meaningful, and not taking a wrong approach.
Glenn said there are entrepreneurs in every field. Klein, for example, the product manager, is a mechanical engineering technology major.
“It is all organically grown by them,” said Glenn.
Klein said the idea was born last summer when he was an intern for the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
