Northern Development interns come from diverse academic backgrounds, with many having little experience with local government or economic development. The BC Economic Development Association’s annual summit provides an outstanding opportunity for interns to not only meet colleagues, but to learn about current challenges and trends in the field.
This year’s summit introduced the interns to the economic climate in B.C., challenges and successes faced by communities throughout the province, and offered strategies on how to deal with some of the issues that they’d likely face in the field. Their experience at the summit was captured on the Trust’s twitter account, as they live tweeted their time there: www.twitter.com/northerndevelop
It wasn’t uncommon to hear someone excitedly say, “Oh! You’re THE interns!” before chatting about current projects and future plans. Northern Development’s internship program has a strong reputation for selecting individuals with energy, insight and passion. Through their experience at the conference, it became apparent that although they may be young and new to the field, intern insight was genuinely sought after.
In one session a glance around the room showed the impact of the internship program, as over a third of those in attendance were either current or former interns. Their participation in the program provided a shared experience and a simple icebreaker to forming relationships that can provide support throughout their career in the field.
Derek de Candole is a former Northern Development intern, and now the Business Attraction Specialist with Venture Kamloops and sits on the board for Economic Development BC.
From karaoke trivia to networking at educational sessions to the coverage of the summit on Twitter, our interns were electric. The learning and connections with colleagues in government, industry and economic development will prove to be a valuable resource to them not only in the months to come, but in their future careers.
