Coledon Johnson ’23 — The Dill Family has sponsored my incredible internship for the summer of 2021. Internships are critical opportunities for students to dramatically increase their professional development and gain experience outside of the classroom. Without the Dill family’s funding, I would not have been able to experience these remarkable internships over the past two summers, and am eternally grateful for their contributions. In my two summer internships, I have been able to gain a tremendous amount of work experience which will soon serve as a catalyst for future internships and even a full-time job one day. Through the Dill family’s funding, countless students can have invaluable experiences that positively alter their career paths and life, and because of this, I want to say thank you.
This summer I have been fortunate enough to work for the Crawfordsville Mayor’s Office as an Operational Analyst/Consultant. Over the past weeks, I have met prominent government officials such as Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch and many other great leaders. I have been able to meet the CEO of Tempur Sealy (the largest manufacturer of mattresses and bedding products in the world), Scott Thompson, who is currently building its largest manufacturer in Crawfordsville. I was able to learn about all the logistical actions needed to make such a multi-million-dollar operation come to life. Furthermore, I was able to sit in on weekly government meetings such as the Board of Works, City Councils, and even new plans to expand residential housing. However, despite all of these exciting experiences, nothing comes close to the main purpose of my internship which was to examine Crawfordsville’s trash service.
The overarching goal of my internship this summer was to examine Crawfordsville’s current trash operation and find key insights on why the service is barely breaking even each year. Drew Bluethmann ’22 and I spent weeks synthesizing over 6 years of data related to trash. We found several brilliant insights, calculated the city’s ROI, created graphs, and finally composed all the information into a 14-page report that we will be handing to the Mayor at the end of the week on July 16th. Additionally, we will be presenting a PowerPoint presentation to the citizens and the City Council on August 2nd in hopes of shedding light on the underlying issues with the service and improving the trash service for all 16,000 Crawfordsville residents.
Altogether this experience has served as a major milestone in my career path of being a consultant and has opened my eyes up to business and government operations. I have learned that government is slow even at the local level and that patience is key to accomplishing anything in life. On the other hand, as a Wabash student, I have honestly spent little time exploring the City of Crawfordsville. So, spending a summer in the city has allowed me to really appreciate the growing city of Crawfordsville. Lastly, I would like to thank Roland Morin, Mayor Barton, Wabash College Career Services, and most importantly the Dill Family for the exceptional experience.
