College students explore regional career opportunities through immersion experience
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Experiencing what it’s like to live and work in the region is at the heart of the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership’s We+You Student Immersion Experience taking place this week.
The bi-annual experience introduces undergraduate and graduate students to companies within the region and exposes them to quality of place and quality of life experiences, helping them envision a life in the South Bend-Elkhart region post-graduation.
Exposing students to regional internship opportunities, the immersion is a part of the Regional Partnership’s efforts to position the region as a leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and development.
“We recruit from regional colleges and universities,” South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership Director of Talent Initiatives Lauren Thomas said. “We’ve seen a lot of international students apply to the program and a good bit of diversity comes through the program. That’s a very exciting element.”
Thomas speaks about the purpose of the We+You Student Immersion Experience.
The program aims to reverse the trend of outward migration of students in Indiana who believe they have to leave the region or state upon graduation to advance in their careers.
“Overarchingly, it’s about shifting that mindset for students that are already in the higher education pipeline, that you can be successful here with your career and you can create a life for yourself that is meaningful, purposeful and rewarding,” Thomas added. “We want them to take advantage of the things that are already here for them.”
The Regional Partnership recently received a 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Silver Award from the International Economic Development Council for its work in talent development and retention.
Costing about $500/student on average, sponsorship from local companies plays a part in organizing the event. But more than financial support, the companies also participate in selling the region to the prospective employees.
“It’s really awesome that we have partners that are not only financially contributing to the event but also being present, active and engaging with the students,” Thomas said. “In the spring, we had a regional company tour at Grand Design RV, which was amazing. This fall, we’re doing a tour of Barletta Boats.”
Bristol-based Barletta Boat Co. is one of eight regional companies sponsoring programming this fall. At only seven years in business, the company sees this opportunity as an ideal way to cultivate its early-career talent pool.
“When you’re in startup mode, every position, every dollar counts. But we’re beginning to get to a point in growth where there’s a couple of things that are critically important for us,” Barletta Boat Vice President for Human Resources Chad Hartzell said. “One is having an understanding of what our source and methodology for building our talent pipeline is and what is our method for building our employer brand?”
Beyond doing a good job building boats, Hartzell said Barletta is invested in building brand awareness, engaging regional talent and contributing to the regional economy.
“We want the region to know that we are truly an organization that has a relentless focus on culture, people and experience. It’s great to have it internally but it’s even better to begin to make sure that people throughout the region understand who we are, what we do and what we stand for,” Hartzell said. “Bringing in entry level student talent for those internship experiences can help build our brand and build those opportunities to continue to evolve our own talent pipeline.”
While the company has previously onboarded high school interns, the We+You program will give Barletta its first opportunity to participate in a formal internship program. Barletta’s parent company, Winnebago Industries, occasionally hosts virtual events for interns across its subsidiaries.
Hartzell said Barletta will craft internship experiences to the students’ skills and interest. The company can provide opportunities, including HR, marketing, finance, supply chain, and engineering. But due to the company size, roles usually overlap, providing the perfect opportunity to get experience in different aspects of the business.
“We’re going to start small, and that might mean as little as one or potentially as much as two or three. Part of that is for a specific reason; we want to provide a great experience for them,” Hartzell said. “As far as positions, we’re going to be fairly open depending on who we attract. We need to be mindful of balancing our needs with student interests.”
Disclosing the spectrum of career paths available in health care is one of the reasons Beacon Health System Workforce Development Program Manager Pam Morrison said the company decided to participate in the Student Immersion Experience.
“Having Beacon represented at this will allow us to really showcase the various career opportunities that we have in healthcare, it allows us to really demonstrate that healthcare is more than just patient-care opportunities,” Morrison said. “There are opportunities for professionals across the employment spectrum, ranging from information systems and information technology, facilities management, engineering, communications and marketing to other professional roles that are more medically-based.”
Morrison sees the internship opportunity as a route to baseline succession planning for the company as boomers age out of the workforce.
“We would work creatively to find opportunities for anybody that’s interested in pursuing career opportunities within Beacon,” she said. “Our goal would be to align experiences to what the student is seeking as well as to what our organization provides from a professional perspective.”
As the generational dynamic of the workforce changes, Beacon is evolving by providing lifestyle perks and development opportunities for its employees, Morrison said.
“They may be looking for more opportunities for flexibility within the role, the opportunity to receive ongoing development or the ability to transition across multiple positions,” she added. “So Beacon is really working to develop more career paths, planning opportunities and to push more resources into workforce development so that we can stay relevant to this new workforce that we’re seeing through some generational changes.”
Giving students a chance to experience what great leadership looks like is part of Barletta’s unique selling point, Hartzell said. With the multi-generational nature of today’s workforce, the company is prioritizing commonality over difference.
“Today’s workforce has the most generations all working together in the history of the workforce and we need to be aware of that. Regardless of generational differences, one common thread is people’s desire to have purpose,” Hartzell added. “If you could find commonality among groups instead of highlighting differences, you’re going to have a much more integrated and seamless approach to how you engage your people.”
A regional company showcase rounds out the experience with sponsoring companies presenting their company, culture and opportunities to the students. Participants are able to network with presenters afterward.
Students in the fall cohort will get a dinner experience at the Lerner Theatre, a coffee break at Embassy Coffee, lunch at Jesus Latin Grill and will also get a chance to tour Four Winds Field. Panelists from Connect 574, the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce and enFocus will also share how they work to make the region livable and workable.
Overall, the team received 90% positive feedback from the inaugural spring cohort, recounting stories of how they now saw the region in a new light and with growing excitement, Thomas said.
While companies do not commit to hiring a specific number of interns, Thomas said her team works to ensure participating companies are actively recruiting for summer 2025 internships or full-time positions within the near future.
For this fall, the Regional Partnership received 45 applications and invited 25 to the immersion. Launched earlier this year, the first installment received 80 applications and 45 students got to partake in the experience.
Recruitment for fall starts in August and closes early October. Spring recruitment starts in January and closes in early March. Selection is based on student responses to questions gauging their level of interest in staying in the region.
“We want to see a general already existing interest in the area. We are looking for students that support the major industries that are here in the region,” Thomas said. “More students participate in the spring because there’s more of an urgency to land that summer internship.”
The next iteration of the We+You Student Immersion Experience is scheduled for next spring. Interested students can apply online and Thomas said the Regional Partnership would be happy to see more companies participate.
“For companies like Beacon, who employ so many different types of professionals across the market, I would encourage any company that’s able to be a part of this experience,” Morrison said. “Early exposure to these college students is really how we’re going to develop the workforce of the future.”