Josh Fedorchak ’24 — This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to work an internship at LED Indy as well as take part in the BIP summer program. The experience in its entirety was extremely helpful and a total success. Before getting into details, I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to those who helped me get into such a great spot. I would first like to thank Anthony Mendez, Roland Morin, and the Center for Innovation, Business & Entrepreneurship (CIBE) at Wabash College for even getting me into this fantastic position. They all set me with the chance to interview and work for some really great companies in the Midwest and those opportunities alone are things I am so grateful for. Your guidance during the Business Innovation Program (BIP) does not go unnoticed, and I am genuinely so appreciative of your hard work every day. Next, I would like to thank John Melind, his staff at LED Indy, and his other associates who helped me understand some of the programming that came with the internship. Without your help, I would not have had the first idea of what to do to help LED Indy. However, you showed me the ropes when it came to programs and documents that would make me a viable asset to LED Indy’s workforce, and I will not let that get overlooked. Finally, I would like to thank my fellow BIP peers. You guys made this experience truly fun and worthwhile with both the personal conversations we took part in as well as the professional discussions we engaged in. I am honestly grateful for each and every one of you.
As part of the BIP summer program, my fellow CIBE rising sophomores and I would take part in a number of business-related activities and meetings. Each week, we would join and partake in some extremely interesting and useful meetings over Zoom; most of these meetings were led by Wabash alumni who have invested their college skills and experience into the business world. My personal favorite of the discussions we would have is definitely the case studies. Each week, we as a group would look at one to two Harvard-based case studies that dissect different aspects of business such as culture and the decision-making process. Another very important aspect of the workplace that BIP went over was the soft skills of business conduct that we discussed during EQ sessions. Here, we went into detail about the minor transactions of business and professionalism like eye contact, handshakes, and smiling. I was particularly fond of the entrepreneurship series we covered. It was during these meetings that we discussed the day-to-day work that entrepreneurs go through and some major tips that could set us apart from the competition.
As I stated before, I was blessed to receive the opportunity to work with John Melind and the rest of LED Indy team. There is quite a lot that I learned and appreciate from my summer experience with LED Indy. First off, I am truly lucky to have received some basic training in Salesforce and Bluebook, two prominent data-based companies that LED Indy utilizes. Salesforce stores past data about activity and clients that LED Indy has and continues to work with while Bluebook is a “middle-man” type of software and company that connects businesses that provide a service and businesses that need said service. Outside of the software, I was tasked with mapping out LED Indy’s “Closed/Won” clients as well as searching for potential new future clients. The mapping process was quite a learning experience for me. There were a number of parts that I was somewhat confused about when it came to choosing an online mapping website and plotting the details. However, I was able to figure things out with a little bit of persistence and “digging up” information. That is quite common in the business world; there will be many things you may not know how to do at first, but you must persevere. With enough hard work and determination, you can get the job done. When it came to finding potential new clients, the Internet was my best friend. Through hours of work online, I was able to put together a thorough list of trade shows and showcases that LED Indy could take its talents to in hopes of finding new partners. I also used the company’s current list of clients to find possible new clients based on proximity.
The BIP summer program and my summer internship are things I am truly blessed to have taken part in. They taught me some very valuable lessons when it comes to the business world and being professional in the world. The BIP sharpened both my raw skills and soft skills in the business world. The summer internship with LED Indy taught me the basics of Salesforce and Bluebook as well as how to think and rely on my knowledge and skills to solve a problem. Once again, I would like to thank Dean Roland Morin, Anthony Mendez ’20, my fellow BIP peers, John Melind ’10 and LED Indy, and the CIBE as a whole for this incredible opportunity. I am truly grateful to be part of such a great event.
