More than one-half of Penn State students go home for the summer, and it means changes for local businesses and employment.

Business drops off considerably when students are gone for the summer, said Grace Mehalick, general manager of McLanahan's Student Store, 414 E. College Ave.

Mehalick said she often works with about one-third of the regular staff in the summer. McLanahan's plans for big events in the summer by having more people work. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and various sports camps bring many people to State College, she said.

With so many employees going home for the summer, Mehalick said they often hire new help. McLanahan's also hires for fall semester around the Arts Festival to train workers for fall arrival and football games, which are the store's busiest times of the year.

Craig Fleming, manager of The Shoe Fly, 214 E. College Ave., said he cuts store hours during the summer and needs fewer students to work.

"There is a cutback because students leave and [business] is slower in the summer," he said. "This year we will probably have to hire three people [because several employees are graduating]." This is the first year he has had to hire for the summer, Fleming said.

He said students who leave for the summer get their jobs back when they return in the fall but hiring for fall varies from year to year.

The Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., has several students who stay to work, some without enrolling for summer courses.

Michael Zungali (senior-economics and political science) has different reasons for staying. "I don't want to go home," he said. "And I'm not taking classes. If I take classes, I'll graduate."

Other students stay for the laid-back atmosphere State College offers in the summer months.

"I love it here over the summer, it's fun," Laura Hemm (junior-criminal justice) said. This will be her second summer in State College working. She isn't taking classes so she can have time for fun, Hemm said.

Hemm also had another reason to stay.

"People who work in the summer are basically guaranteed jobs in the fall," she said.

Since most leases are for 12 months, students in apartments might as well stay for the summer, said Michael Kennedy (senior-film and video).

Kennedy is staying to take classes he needs for graduation.

Some area restaurants like The Corner Room, 100 W. College Ave., do not suffer slower business during the months when students are not around. Wes Shively, assistant manager at The Corner Room, said they usually have enough people coming in from the Arts Festival and various university-run summer camps to keep customer counts up.

The Corner Room does not need to lay people off because enough go home, Shively said. However, it does have to hire some to replace those gone. A requirement for hiring is that the employee will have to be available for at least one semester after the summer.

Shively said people who leave are not necessarily guaranteed a spot on the staff when they return, but if they leave on good terms, the restaurant prefers to rehire experienced staff members rather than new people.