Southwest Michigan First, in partnership with the Monroe-Brown Foundation and The Kalamazoo Promise, hosted three networking events in Kalamazoo this summer. Nearly 160 interns from 45 universities, 19 states, and nine countries participated in the Summer Intern Mixer Series this year.
The series kicked off in May with a panel of former interns sharing their best advice on how to make the most of their internship, lots of networking time over table games, and a walking tour that highlighted some of the unique and cool places that appeal to young professionals and can only be found in downtown Kalamazoo. In June, the interns met up at a Kalamazoo Growlers baseball game for food and fun, and in July, they bonded over bowling and arcade games at Revel & Roll West. The mixers were well attended, with 204 interns participating in the three networking events.
“The goal of the intern mixers is to connect students so that they can share their experiences as interns and get a feel for what it might be like to live and work in our community. Exposing students, especially those students from outside the area, to the assets and hidden gems of the region through the mixers, helps them see themselves launching their careers and putting down roots in Southwest Michigan,” said Petey Stephanak, senior director of talent and workforce development at Southwest Michigan First. “The companies provide the professional experiences, and the Intern Mixers provides the community experiences.”
Building a talent pipeline is critical to the future success of our region. That’s why Southwest Michigan First Intern Mixer Series is such an important part of our ongoing workforce development initiative. We’d like to thank the following companies for partnering with us to provide meaningful internship opportunities for these students:
- Abonmarche Byce
- Aunalytics
- AVB
- BDO USA
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Michigan
- Consumers energy
- CRB
- CSM Group
- Depatie Fluid Power Group
- Discover Kalamazoo
- Duncan Aviation
- Edwards Garment
- Epredia
- FEMA
- Flowserve
- Getman Corporation
- Global Ties Kalamazoo
- Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan
- Graphic Packaging International
- Greenleaf Trust
- Gryphon Place
- Hamilton Law, PLC
- Honor Credit Union
- Humanergy
- Humphrey Products Company
- Jennings Development Interplex
- Kalamazoo Country Club
- Kalamazoo Promise
- Kalamazoo RESA
- Kellogg Company
- KIA
- Kreis, Enderle, Hudgins & Borsos
- Landscape Forms
- Legal Aids
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
- LKF Marketing
- Mall City Mechanical
- Mann & Hummel
- Michigan Secretary of State
- OptiMed Health Partners
- Parker Hannifin
- Pfizer
- Plante Moran
- Primerica
- Room 35
- Southwest Michigan first
- Stryker
- Synergy Health Center
- TowerPinkster
- Treystar
- Yeo & Yeo
- YWCA of Kalamazoo
- Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI)
- Zoetis
More information about the Summer Intern Mixer Series may be found here. Or, you can reach out to Petey Stephanak at pstephanak@southwestmichiganfirst.com.
