For my internship this summer, I worked with the Chamber of Commerce in my hometown of
Danville, Indiana. With the chamber, I helped work on anything to do with economic
development. I also did several tasks not involved with economic development, like setting up
our local farmers’ market and helping set up events with multiple businesses. When I was
tasked with economic development, the big takeaway was that I made a survey for businesses to give feedback on what they believe were benefits to having their business in Danville. This allowed us to get better insight into what may draw new businesses and then work out our plans around those targeting benefits. The big project I had this summer was making a business list with every business in Danville and who they were owned by. The list contained over 1500 businesses in the town. My most favorite part about the internship was being able to sit in on meetings about potential businesses wanting to relocate in town, or general meetings with our Economic Development Committee on ideas we could attract more business such as using our local airport or even the railway. In one meeting, I got to talk with a business that was opening in Danville and help them find certain grants that might make their business easier to create.
Overall, the internship was very enjoyable. The people I worked with were genuinely nice and it felt good being able to better a community, especially my hometown. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn how economics works on a larger scale. I think it is especially good for anyone interested in business. As a PPE major it was interesting how the government works with businesses to better relationships and bring income to a community. I would also like to thank Professor Mikek for providing me with the opportunity to take on this internship. It was a wonderful experience meeting people from my town and making an impact.
