Pottsville, PA, September 14th, 2010 – Pennsylvania-based Empire reaches industry milestone!
Springfield, PA- Empire Education Group is celebrating the Grand Opening of its 100th school nationwide. The Empire Beauty School, located in the Springfield Shopping Center on Sproul Road at U.S. 1 in Springfield, PA, is an 11,400 square foot facility with state of the art classroom technology and an eco-friendly design.
“We are thrilled to be able to serve future cosmetology professionals in Delaware County and the western suburbs of Philadelphia.” said Franklin K. Schoeneman, Chairman and CEO of Pottsville, PA-based Empire Education Group. “We are committed to creating opportunities for people, both across our home state of Pennsylvania and across the other nineteen states we serve, to improve their lives. Empire provides a high quality education for careers that the marketplace demands.”
Empire currently has more than 2,000 students in Pennsylvania. More than 20,000 future cosmetology professionals will be educated nationwide at Empire schools this year.
Starting classes this week, Empire’s Springfield Campus is one of 20 Empire schools in Pennsylvania. Empire has educated an estimated 100,000 cosmetology professionals since its founding as a single location in Wilkes-Barre more than 75 years ago. The Springfield event includes a visit from local dignitaries, beauty industry leaders, and, Empire’s guest of honor, the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County — a local domestic abuse shelter. At the event, Empire will present a $5000 donation to the shelter, which the Springfield school has “adopted.” It will also be offering free salon services to women and children living there.
The donation is part of Empire Gives Back, a program the company started in 2008 to support local women’s shelters and domestic violence initiatives in the communities where their schools are located. Since the founding of Empire Gives Back, Empire has donated an estimated $500,000 in funds and services to the cause nationwide.
TV personality and well-known hairstylist, Nick Arrojo will also be at the Springfield event, where he will judge a “Styling for the Red Carpet” competition between teams from nine Philadelphia-area Empire schools. Arrojo partners with Empire on a nationwide advanced education program for stylists called Masters of Beauty (www.mastersofbeauty.com), with local classes held at Empire’s Northeast Philadelphia campus on Woodhaven Road. Empire is also setting itself on a greener path. Each new school is incorporating sustainable and efficient design elements that help to conserve significant resources. These eco-friendly schools feature many environmentally friendly features including, low-flow faucets, energy saving washers and dryers, and salon flooring made from 100% recyclable materials. In addition, Empire recycles all of its hair to be reused in various ways, most notably, with the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf.
Empire currently is finalizing additional locations which will bring the total to 103 schools by December 31st. “I am often asked ‘how many beyond that?’ says Mr. Schoeneman. “We simply don’t know, and I am not sure that we are very concerned about it. We may be the largest beauty school company out there, but that has never been my goal. My focus is set on providing the best possible quality education for our students. If we do that, we will continue to grow.”