This summer, PE Systems partnered with the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) to hire two summer interns, Danica Vermillion and Kayla Payne.
Kayla graduated Cum Laude from Bellbrook High School this year. She will be attending Ohio University (OH) in the fall to major in Visual Communications. After graduating OU, she plans to start a career in web design.
“Overall, PE Systems has a great work environment but more importantly, great people,” Kayla said about her PE Systems internship. “Everyone here is productive and enjoys their job. I feel very welcomed and valued.”
Danica is an incoming Junior at Bellbrook High School who is also concurrently taking College Credit Plus classes through Clark State Community College. After high school, she would like to attend either Ohio University (OU) or the University of Dayton (UD) to major in Political Science.
“This internship is truly amazing. Not only is this a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, but I also get the chance to explore different fields of business and see what I’m interested in,” Danica said about her internship opportunity. “I get the opportunity to work alongside the funny and sweet people at PE Systems. Everyone here has been so kind and welcoming. I couldn’t think of a better place to be an intern at.”
“In the past we talked about having interns on our team, but never made the move…I’m glad we finally did,” said Scott Murray, Vice President of the Dayton Division at PE Systems. “Kayla and Danica have brought new and smart ideas to our social media and marketing initiatives. Their talents and energy have proven to be beneficial in just a short time.”
The interns worked on a social media project over the course of their internship. The project included developing a social media plan, performing an analysis of best-in-class websites to make recommendations on improvements to the PE Systems website and developing social media content. They also worked on making updates to company media documents like the capability deck and one-pager as well as other graphics that are being used for media sharing.
“I really appreciated what they accomplished in the short time with us,” said Doug Cooper, Chief Operating Officer, PE Systems. “These are the areas in which we need to lean on our smart young people to unlock the ways to stay relevant across the board. It will be a few blinks of an eye before their generation will be the ones entrusted with the success of these programs and their missions.”
SOCHE’s internship program employs hundreds of students, high school through the post-doctoral level, in many positions to support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the City of Dayton, and Montgomery County, as well as numerous small and mid-sized companies. Internship roles call for students majoring in various subjects, including science, technology, engineering, math, arts, business, social sciences, manufacturing, and humanities majors.
“We’re proud of the ever-increasing intern numbers across the region and we hope that employers and colleges and universities are equally proud of the progress,” said Cassie Barlow, President of SOCHE. “Every year we work to strengthen and evolve partnerships between the private sector and higher education to provide more internship opportunities in Ohio,” Barlow added.