Alyssa Meierbachtol recently completed an internship with Scott County. This is what she had to say about the experience:
My Internship with the Scott County Community Development Agency (CDA) has allowed me to apply my skills that I have obtained while studying Business Administration along with a minor in Economics at UWRF. Working as an intern at Scott County CDA has also allowed me to use my management and economic skills while working in a group environment. Over the past four months of my time spent with Scott County CDA I have learned a variety of skills that can only be learned in the workplace. As a Business Management Major, I could have not asked for a better internship. This experience has taught me so much about economic development and I look forward to applying the skills I have learned in my future career. Throughout my internship, I completed two different rotations to complete several projects that relate to my course work at UWRF.
The first rotation I completed was with the First Stop Shop, which is an economic development resource housed within the Scott County CDA. My daily tasks included entering and maintaining database records in Salesforce, gathering statistics using numerous research databases, and attending team meetings regularly. Specifically, one project I worked on was creating proposal templates for each of the seven cities located in Scott County. These proposal templates will be used when the First Stop Shop receives a significant lead from a business wanting to locate to one of Scott County’s cities. While creating these templates I often referred to the content I learned in Principles of Marketing. I applied some of the marketing techniques I learned to the proposal templates where each city is essentially being marketed.
The second rotation I completed for my internship was the Outreach/ Marketing rotation for the Housing Program. Individual tasks I was responsible for were the homeownership program outreach, compiling evaluations, and assisting with client budgets. I enjoyed learning about all the different housing programs and how they benefit not only the community, but also the economic development within those communities. One aspect that challenged me with this rotation was learning how to do the client budgets. It was a whole new process that I had to sit down and learn. However, once I started to learn more about the budgets I could relate the content to the accounting courses I have taken.
Throughout my internship, I have learned several skills that I would have not learned in the classroom. One of the most valuable skills I learned was how to work as a group in a professional setting to complete a project. I had the opportunity to sit in on several meetings where this was taking place. Another important skill I learned more about was problem solving. While completing some of my own projects I had to problem solve when things didn’t always go as planned. In addition, throughout my internship I was provided with numerous networking occasions. I was able to meet a wide variety of professionals and receive beneficial career advice from them.
The tasks I was assigned throughout my internship have helped me learn new skills that I can use in my future career. I was provided with great opportunities where I was able to apply and gain new skills in teamwork and management. This internship has allowed me to grow my professional network and make new connections that I can keep in contact with throughout my future career. This internship has also allowed me to explore my interests of economics, management, and marketing more in depth in a real-life setting. I am eager to put my new skills at work in my future career and at UWRF.
This internship opportunity has helped me grow in the professional world and has taught me new expertise in the business field. Lastly, being an intern at Scott County CDA has helped me explore my career, learn new skills and grow my professional network. My internship with Scott County CDA has taught me many valuable skills that can only be learned in the workplace.