Creative Internship Opportunities in Northeast Indiana

Internships Available in Every Industry

When students start looking for internship or work experiences in their desired field of study, it can sometimes be hard to see what they have right here in Northeast Indiana. However, if students do just a little research, they will find regional companies making a significant impact as leaders of their industry. Here is a list of organizations providing meaningful experiences for interns.

Daniel Menu and Party Consulting 

Food and beverage is a target industry in Northeast Indiana, and companies representing this industry range from warehouses and processing facilities to restaurants and bakeries. Daniel Menu and Party Consulting is a small, three-person catering company in Columbia City in Whitley County. Morgan Usher, a current employee at Daniel Menu and Party Consulting and owner of Mo’s Cupcakesand Endless and Endless Sweets, knows firsthand how important internships when she started her journey with Daniel Menu and Party Consulting. When she was in high school, she had to find an experiential learning experience in a field she was interested in. Not too long into her search, Usher was connected with Jill Daniel, owner of Daniel Menu and Party Consulting.  Daniel did not think twice about bringing Morgan on as an intern.

“I think internships are totally valuable,” said Daniel.

Usher was able to use the knowledge from her catering internship to better price her cupcakes, adjust to unexpected situations, act like a professional and how to improve her business all around. And even though Daniel knows Usher will be leaving to start her own business one day, she still supports Morgan every step of the way.

Orthoworx

Another target industry that is actively in search for talent is the medical devices and technology industry. Orthoworx is an economic development company focused on preserving and growing the Orthopedics industry in Kosciusko County. Each summer, they bring on a team of 5-7 interns to complete a large-scale project that will help grow the industry. This summer, the project focuses on implementing curriculum into the surrounding area schools to encourage students to go into a manufacturing field to help fill jobs in the industry’s many factories. Since the project has to do with curriculum, Orthoworx has an education major as an intern. In the past, they have had engineer and communication majors in addition to the regular business school interns.

News-Banner

There are many newspapers, TV stations and radio stations within the Northeast Indiana region that are looking for excellent writers and reporters to make an impact on their businesses. The News-Banner is the local newspaper for Wells County, and President and Publisher Doug Brown said the Banner has had interns for years. They never have to post an opening because of the reputation they have within the community of always being willing to bring an intern on for the summer. The Banner’s interns write and research their own stories, and if they meet the company expectations, get published. Brown said that internships are especially important in the journalism industry because it is not for everyone and the sooner someone knows that the better.

The bottom line is that interns and employers alike should look everywhere for opportunities. Employers should not shy away from having an intern because they think they are too small of a company, or the student is not the perfect fit educationally. If a small catering company can bring on an intern—you can too. Opportunities are out there—you just have to look.

-By Jakob Coker, 2018 Regional Intiatives Intern