Return to Earn intern Lindsey Stone was able to work on a variety of restoration projects at the Jack Frost Auto Museum this summer.
For the past three summers, Four County Community Foundation (4CCF) has paired area college students with local businesses as part of their Return to Earn internship program.
This talent retention initiative, launched in 2022, facilitates quality, paid summer internships for college students in or near their hometowns. It gives college students the chance to both build their resume and earn a paycheck while also creating potential avenues for them to return to those communities after completing their college or university studies and find a job in their field.
The foundation supports both interns and participating businesses by helping cover up to 50 percent of the interns’ salary.
This year, 4CCF also facilitated the connection of grant writing interns with local municipalities.
We asked our 2024 summer interns and their hosts to reflect on what they’ve gained through this program.
Unique Pethick said that her Return to Earn internship confirmed she was on the right career path.
“Working with the Ortonville Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has cemented that I want to work in the social media management field and has gotten rid of any overlooking doubts I had about whether or not I’d enjoy the career path I was working towards,” she said.
Unique spent her time managing the DDA’s farmers market social media pages and created promotional banners and posters. She feels her internship allowed her to build on her communications and marketing knowledge.
“Working with the DDA has given me the opportunity to talk to people in every facet of the farmers market process so I’ve gotten to work a lot on strengthening my digital communication in a professional sense. I also learned how to make the most eye-catching graphics possible and how to limit the use of words as much as possible to convey information, since those are the posts that tend to stick out to people the most,” Unique noted.
An added bonus was the chance to gain these skills so close to home. Unique has lived in downtown Ortonville her entire life.
“I found it especially easy to connect with vendors and visitors of the market both in person and online,” she added.
Return to Earn interns Lola Boyer and Larissa Hollingsworth spent their summer with the Oxford Downtown Development Authority and got a history lesson to go with it.
In addition to coordinating and promoting special events and tackling website updates, Lola and Larissa took a step back in time and, in a collaboration with the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum, created historical signage that now graces several downtown buildings.
“Through our building history capstone project, we have learned so much about the community we are serving. This has shown us how Oxford came to be, and we now have a better understanding of the community of Oxford and its history,” Lola said.
Larissa, a native of Oxford, said that working close to home motivated her to excel in her internship.
“Because I am working in my hometown, I often see familiar faces at events and can encourage my friends and family to attend events regularly. This encourages me even more to do my best work for the Oxford community,” she said.
Although Lola resides in Shelby Township, she said Oxford feels like home too.
“When I’m not working with the DDA, I spend a lot of my time in Oxford working at my mom’s boutique, Twinkle Toes & Clothes, located downtown. I have come to love the city of Oxford from being here all the time!”
Both say their horizons have expanded as a result of the internship.
“This internship with Oxford DDA has opened my eyes to an entirely different career path that I never would have known I had interest in. I studied Marketing and Business Management at Grand Valley State University, but because of this internship, I have gained a new interest in government,” Larissa said.
Lola is grateful she gained experience in marketing—her major in college—along with other fields. “Although I am still not exactly sure what I want to do in the long term, I am now open to working in different fields,” she said.
Russ Bahri, General Manager of the Jack Frost Auto Museum in Washington Twp., said their business has greatly benefitted from adding Lindsey Stone to their payroll through the Return to Earn internship program. They’ve gained another team member who’s passionate about collector vehicles and could develop a future career with the company. In addition to being a museum, Jack Frost offers full service restoration and storage facility services.
In return, Lindsey is getting tons of hands-on experience in vehicle restoration including cataloging, assembly and disassembly, body work and welding.
“She’s currently welding on a 1970 Chevelle and 1970 Road Runner,” Russ said.
Check out this video of Lindsey at work!
Lindsey’s dad, who’s a member of the museum, first inquired about the possibility of an internship. Lindsey started out in an unpaid position just to get a feel for the work but, soon after, the Jack Frost team to decide to put her on the payroll. In addition to her welding skills, Russ said they’ve appreciated Lindsey’s organizational skills and the work she did to bring in more shelving units and label parts.
“The difficulty for students and younger people is that not too many people give them a chance or opportunity to learn a trade because they have a business to run,” Russ notes. Since Jack Frost Auto Museum receives a stipend from Four County Community Foundation and the RPM Foundation—an organization that supports restoration and preservation training programs for the next generation of automotive, motorcycle and marine craftsmen— it makes it easier for the local business to cover the cost of instruction time that Lindsey receives from their staff.
“I would encourage any business to participate in a program like Return to Earn. If they can connect with a student who has the same mindset as Lindsey, it would definitely benefit their business,” Russ added.
In December 2023, Four County Community Foundation received a Rural Readiness grant from the Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity to hire grant writing interns for local municipalities.
4CCF was able to place grant writers with the city of Imlay City and the villages of Armada, Dryden and Romeo.
Annie Garcia said her time as a grant writing intern for the city of Imlay City let her delve into the often-intimidating world of federal grants. “While I previously had experience with smaller state and local grants, this internship has significantly expanded my understanding of federal grants, including their more complex application processes and compliance requirements,” Annie said.
She also feels she has a better grasp of the “inner workings” of municipal governments, including how different departments and personnel collaborate to achieve community objectives and how grants play a critical role in supporting and funding various city initiatives.
Annie said her internship experience will have significant benefits for her future.
“The skills I am developing here will be directly applicable to my career, providing a strong foundation for pursuing a successful path in fundraising and non-profit management,” she said.
Josie Ogle is majoring in economics at the University of Michigan with an eye at eventually attending law school and potentially specializing in real estate law. Her grant writing internship with the Romeo Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has provided her with experience that touches on all those interests.
She’s currently working on a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant application which promotes alternative transportation paths.
“I have learned a great deal about the allocation of federal funding and how villages like Romeo go about securing it. I found it particularly interesting to investigate the various purposes of grants and the specific projects they support,” Josie said.
“Working with the Romeo DDA has given me a better understanding of how these substantial sums of money can proportionally benefit a small community.”
Josie said she’s benefitted from meeting weekly with Romeo DDA Interim Director Cristina Sheppard-Decius to discuss the specific needs of the DDA and writing monthly reports for the DDA’s board about her findings. This gives board members the ability to share information with Josie that’s pertinent to grant applications.
“As a student planning to attend law school, any experience in government writing and processes is valuable to my future career. I aim to apply the persuasive writing skills I’ve developed in my legal career. Additionally, I appreciated the experience of working with an organization focused on land development, as I’ve recently been considering a specialization in real estate law,” she said.
For more information about 4CCF’s internship opportunities, reach out to Executive Director Kathy Dickens at kdickens@4ccf.org or call (810) 444-8852.
