By Dave Smith

The trend today is for young people in rural areas to leave home for college, get an education, take that knowledge to an urban location and then maybe upon retirement, return “home.” That process leaves out the needs of the rural community, leaving jobs unfilled and adding pressure to attract skilled, educated workers into specialized fields into an environment that is often foreign to them.

The Kossuth County Economic Development Corporation began its Intern Program over a decade ago to address this issue. Now hundreds of college students have come to the area, many who are natives of the region, not only to take summer jobs and learn valuable lessons about their career fields, but in many cases to begin careers at local firms.

“The Kossuth County Intern Program was developed twelve years ago by KCEDC as a means of guaranteeing a future workforce in the county. The program encourages young adults to settle and bring new businesses to the area. This program also gives them true skill building training sessions that will hopefully enhance their ability to obtain a good job and make them a committed and productive employee and community leader,”  said Maureen Elbert, Executive Director of the Kossuth County Economic Development Corporation.

The mission of the Intern Program is: “To provide a means for individuals to expand their leadership goals, obtain business development training, and support community service and volunteerism for the betterment of our area, along with gaining experience in their summer work environment.”
Over the course of its existence the program has done just that through a number of events, functions, seminars, mentoring opportunities and of course, work experience.

After a dozen years the program is bearing plenty of fruit. Participants not only return to the area to work, but often become active in the community taking leadership roles and using what they gained through the Intern Program to give back to the communities that provide them with such opportunity.
Laci Erpelding heard about the program from her mother while she was attending the University of Northern Iowa. Following her sophomore year she interned for two summers at Pharmacists Mutual Insurance. During her internship Erpelding was active in the summer program. She co-chaired the Intern Committee during both years she was an intern, an experience she said helped her, “develop professional skills, gain confidence, and give back to my 'home-town' community.”

Erpelding's participation in the program led to a job and also led her back home. “In the spring of my senior year I received a call from Tom Goodrich; he was my boss as an intern. He had a full time position open, and asked me to apply as he thought I would be a good match due to my performance as an intern. I was hired on a part-time basis in March of 2009 until I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in May 2009 with a degree in Finance and Real Estate. After graduation I began full time as an Underwriter Associate for Commercial Lines. I was fortunate to have a job waiting for me directly after college. I moved back because of the offer I had received due to my internship.”
Erpelding also got involved with the program that helped her so much. She is now part of the Career Intern Committee.

“I enjoy being able to give back to the committee, community, and all new interns. I had an excellent experience as an intern, which has lead me on a path to a strong career at Pharmacist Mutual Insurance,” Erpelding said. “Having an intern program is very important in a small community because it opens many doors for young individuals that growing up in this community we may not know exist. The program is giving opportunities to young individuals to do internships in their field of study without having to move to a larger community.”

Andrew Lauver recently participated in the Intern Program and found it to be beneficial as well. The Iowa State University student was provided an opportunity to intern at MaxYield Cooperative.
“They told me I could participate as much or as little as I wanted to,” he explained, “After the first day I realized I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity and get extremely involved.”
Lauver said the biggest benefit of the program was meeting students outside of his chosen agricultural field and working on projects with them. Being involved on campus Lauver feared he would miss out on opportunities to take part in leadership programs during the summer. However, the Intern Program allowed him to continue to be very active.  “It helped me immensely as far as applying things I learned during the summer to organizations at Iowa State,” Lauver said.

A program such as this one cannot happen without the cooperation and involvement of local businesses. In the summer of 2010, 42 interns and 19 businesses were part of the program. Business leaders find that the program is beneficial to their businesses in both the short- and long-term.
“Since we have been located in Algona, IA, it is critical to be able to recruit individuals to this area for employment. The leading efforts being made by KCEDC to recruit young people to Kossuth County will be a tremendous contribution to our business as well as many others in the county. I have encouraged many companies in the area to utilize KCEDC in their recruiting efforts,” said Conley Nelson, General Manager of Murphy-Brown in Algona.

“We have taken advantage of KCEDC’s intern program for the past several years to add people power to our summer marketing programs,” said Dan Quinlin, President of Northwest Bank.  “The networking and leadership opportunities the KCEDC program offers enhances the interns’ experience and gives them a great education on what employment opportunities lay ahead of them in Kossuth County.”

The program will be in full force once again this summer. Several skill building sessions are part of the offering, sessions that interns find rewarding. Spense Simonson, intern at the KCEDC office, sees a number of benefits to the skill building sessions. “The internship program gives students a great opportunity to get hands-on experience in the working world as well as to learn,” Simonson detailed. “I think our committees and activities teach us teamwork, organization, and get our creative minds working.  Networking also plays a big role because it gives interns a chance to make connections that may help in the future.”

“The sessions prepare the interns for important, but not often taught in the classroom, professional skills that are essential in getting a foot in the door with potential employers”, explained Maureen Elbert.

“I also give a lot of credit to the intern program for helping me with career development skills such as interviewing and resume writing,” Lauver said.

The 2011 program will feature the following skill building sessions:

• Intern Breakfast-“Bring Your A Game---To Every Aspect Of Life”
• Finance & Insurance Skill Building Session  
• ILCC Computer Training Class –Microsoft Outlook
• Business Etiquette Training Session
• Intern / CEO Golf Outing 
• 401 K Retirement Skill Building Session 
• Resume Writing & Building Your Portfolio
• Mock Interview Session
• CEO / Intern Luncheon

Keeping the program relevant to the needs of the area businesses is crucial, so the Internship Committee consists of business leaders who actively recruit and hire interns. Current committee members are Bob Jennings and Brien Rindone, AMU; Dan Quinlin and Jen Sadler, Northwest Bank; Nick Roethler,  Kuehl & Payer; Kathy Nelson, Iowa State Bank; Laci Erpelding and Megan Cook, Pharmacists Mutual; and Tascha Wykoff, Farmers State Bank.

The Intern Kick-Off Breakfast will be held May 24th at 7:30 a.m. at the KC Hall in Algona.  For more information, please call Kossuth County Economic Development Corporation at 515-295-7979.

For more information contact:
Maureen Elbert, Executive Director
Kossuth/Palo Alto County Economic Development Corporation
106 S. Dodge St., Suite 210
Algona, Iowa 50511
Ph: (515) 295-7979 Fax: (515) 295-8873
kcedc@kossuthia.com
www.kossuth-edc.com  / www.paloaltoiowa.com