SHENANGO VALLEY — While you can’t judge a book by its cover, sometimes it really does matter what the cover looks like.

That was part of the sentiment Bill Strickland presented Monday morning to a group of more than 50 area business people, educators and community leaders. The president and CEO of the non-profit Manchester Bidwell Corp. oversees a post-secondary education enterprise that may set up shop in the Shenango Valley.

Backed in large part by funds from the Community Foundation, a study is under way to determine if the area is ripe for Strickland’s school and if money can be obtained to build and support the center.  

Getting the money will take work, said the Community Foundation’s executive director Larry Haynes. He pegged the overall price tag between $6 million and $9 million.

It will take a combination of state funding with a local match for the school to get erected, he said, with the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. site in Sharon mentioned as a possibility.  

Bringing the school here has generated the support of the Shenango Valley and Lawrence County chambers of commerce and Penn-Northwest Development Corp., which brought Strickland to town.

Speaking at the Park Inn by Radisson in Shenango Township, he stressed what goes on in the center is critical. But in a visual presentation he showed that the Pittsburgh school looks like something between a mall and a corporate office.

Growing up in the ghettos of Pittsburgh, Strickland built his school center almost from scratch. With a 95 percent graduation rate, the school is now a case study for business schools.

What has gotten Manchester Bidwell attention is that it targets students who get ignored, such as those on welfare or people without meaningful job skills. In about a year, those students are trained to enter the workforce in such jobs as lab technicians, pharmacy technicians, medical coders and phlebotomists.

Although students 18 and older attend the school, it also reaches into high schools for at-risk students and creates after-school programs to teach the arts – such as music, ceramics and photography. The simple program gives students the feeling of success and rudimentary technical skills. Even better, 90 percent of those students graduate high school in a system where a 50 percent graduation rate is often seen as a success.    

Strickland’s operation has gone on the road. It has schools in other states and is looking at going international.

Getting the school here isn’t a done deal. While it could be open as early as next fall, backers say if the final green light is given, a fall 2014 launch is more likely. But, Strickland said, if the project is to become reality he wants to see it happen sooner rather than later.

“If you feel I’m in a hurry, you’re right, I’m in a hurry,’’ Strickland told the audience.   

Talk among proponents of the post-secondary school say the game plan is to create a main center in the Shenango Valley area with potential satellite operations in Lawrence, Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

Cost of the schooling has varied widely with a high of a little over $18,600 to less than $13,000 in Pennsylvania.

In the end, the community must decide if the school will open its doors here, Strickland said.

“I’m not here to sell the idea,’’ he said. “You’ve got to decide if this makes sense for you.’’

Based on Strickland’s tour of the area on Monday, it won’t be a hard sell. He visited Sharon and Farrell schools and met with other community leaders early Monday evening at Buhl Mansion.

Results of the study under way should be completed by February. From there, backers hope to get a road map on a school location and funding sources.

“We’re committed to this – we’re going to make it happen,’’ Haynes said.