When making his college decision, Alex Showerman ’10 was looking for a community.  He found it at St. Lawrence on his visit to campus.  “I really enjoyed the people, and the sense of community was apparent just from spending the day here,” he says.

His passion for community has led him to better St. Lawrence by working in the admissions and career services offices, and as an Orientation leader.  But after interning in the St. Lawrence County Economic Development Office during his junior year, Alex, a Grantham, NH, native and Thetford Academy graduate, began looking for ways to integrate St. Lawrence students and the local community to create opportunities for both to thrive in unison. “It would be good for economic growth and would create an even closer community than the one that already exists,” he says. 

From there, an idea was born, as Alex became the founder of Canton Ambassadors.
“My hope is that Canton Ambassadors will help St. Lawrence students develop positive relationships with business owners and people in Canton and that my work continues long after I graduate,” the government major and economics minor says. ‘This can’t occur overnight, but my hope is to help create a sustainable market in which students and business owners benefit from each other.”

Alex and other ambassadors visited local businesses last spring and began a dialog that included discussions about ideas and opportunities, such as hosting an event in the fall with live music, sidewalk sales and activities. “St. Lawrence has allowed me accessibility to people and resources to help me pursue this,” he says.