July 19, 2007

Courtesy photo

Interns from Fort Wayne companies gather at events, such as a Wizards game, to socialize with one another and with local professionals. The events are part of the Live, Learn and Intern program organized by a division of Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce.

Social work for students

Intern networking program doubles as job-recruiting tool

By Sherry Slater

When a local intern networking group started accepting reservations for an evening of bowling at Crazy Pinz, it took only 24 hours to fill the 30 spots.

Event organizer Jaime Blosser, an intern for the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, considered that a tremendous response.

But she knew the Graduate Retention Program had a certified hit when all 40 spaces for an hors d’oeuvres reception last month at upscale Roanoke restaurant Joseph Decuis filled up in just four short hours.

Blosser, a Fort Wayne native who will be a junior communications major this fall at Huntington University, was hired to plan the kinds of events her peers would enjoy. In addition to bowling and gourmet appetizers, outings have included Fort Wayne Komets and Wizards games. Coming events include a movie at the Huntington Drive-In Theatre, a preview evening at J.K. O’Donnell’s Irish pub, a tour of Tower Bank’s vault and observation deck, and a reception at Sycamore Hills Country Club.

“We’re trying to do anything we can to draw (interns) in,” Blosser said. “We offer free food and promote that. And it is free because we get corporate sponsors.”

The Live, Learn and Intern program, organized by the Chamber’s Workforce Development Division, has been planning summer socializing events for interns for three years. But this is the first year the effort has been extended beyond the traditional summer months to include events starting in March, said Mike Landram, the Chamber’s vice president of workforce development.

This year also marks the beginning of an effort to expand the program beyond Fort Wayne into northeast Indiana, he said.

Along with letting the interns enjoy various activities, the program allows them to socialize with one another and learn more about the city and region from local professionals who also attend the events.

Bruce Menshy, Raytheon Co.’s director of operations in Fort Wayne, attended the Joseph Decuis event and talked to the interns about local arts and restaurants. He thinks the city has more of each than some other places with similar populations. And Menshy thinks the cost of living is reasonable.

“I think it’s just a great place to live,” he said.

Raytheon uses its internship program to help recruit full-time employees. Each summer the defense contractor employs 15 to 20 interns, primarily engineering students from Indiana colleges and universities.

The Chamber’s intern networking program is a good way to combat the so-called brain drain, which happens when area students move elsewhere to work after they’ve received college degrees, Menshy said.

Maria Prudlow, a Ball State University graduate who will enter the school’s architecture master’s program in the fall, is interning at Design Collaborative, a Fort Wayne architecture firm. Her supervisor, Patrick Pasterick, encouraged all four of the firm’s interns to attend the Chamber’s events.

Prudlow, a Fort Wayne native, attended the Komets and Wizards games and the evening at Joseph Decuis. She likes the social events because it encourages the interns to meet and make friends. She also likes the emphasis on the city, where she expects to end up after possibly getting her professional start at a larger firm in a larger city.

“I think I have a fondness for Fort Wayne because I’m from here,” she said.

interns at Vera Bradley Designs, has attended Brandi Cassell, one of about 10 three of this year’s intern events.

Even though she attends classes here – she’s in her senior year at Indiana Tech – the Atlanta native doesn’t know Fort Wayne well.

Cassell is trying to figure out where to live after graduation, a decision that could be influenced by the Graduate Retention Program, where she’s made friends.

“It’s opened up Fort Wayne to me more,” she said. “As far as staying, I’d consider it a little bit more because of the (social) events.”

That’s exactly what people like Raytheon’s Menshy want to hear.

As for Blosser, the Chamber intern who has organized the events, she’s made friends, learned more about her hometown and possibly settled on a career: event planning.

“It has crossed my mind,” she said, after reviewing the work she’s done for the intern program. “It’s been really enjoyable. … I can’t even count the positive responses I’ve gotten.”