USD Magazine Fall 2020

COURTESY OF MAKESAFE TO OLS, INC.

[ c o l l a b o r a t i o n ]

USD and sma l l bu s i n e s s : A p r o f i t a b l e p a r t n e r s h i p E C O N O M I C R E C O V E R Y

ple of how USD’s Career Develop- ment Center and The Brink, its small business development center, worked to pair dozens of students with local businesses in need of qualified interns. Thanks to the generosity of the Kenrose Kitchen Table Founda- tion — the philanthropic initia- tive of J.D. Power and his family, along with other generous USD donors — 86 students were paid for their summer internships, without having to worry about taking a financial hit or having to seek a summer job, says Robin Darmon, senior director of the Career Development Center. “At a time when students were struggling to find meaningful professional experiences and

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by Liz Harman

the summer, she helped upgrade the firm’s website and search engine optimization efforts. Swaaley says her contributions have been invaluable. For her part, the internship “turned out to be the best thing I could have done with my time this summer,” Bolt says. She thinks such interdisciplinary experiences will be a “huge help” working with engineering teams in the future. The internship is just one exam-

nterning at a small business wasn’t Laura Bolt’s ’21 (BA) first choice for the summer. But for her, it turned out to be the best one. In the midst of a pandemic posing unprecedented challenges to USD and small businesses, both are banding together for mutually-beneficial partnerships. When her study abroad trip to Austria was canceled, Bolt (pictured) began interning with

MAKESafe Tools in San Diego. According to owner Scott Swaa- ley, the plan for this year was to invest heavily in trade shows for the startup firm, which sells in- dustrial safety products. When those events were canceled, the small firm reinvested in digital marketing and advertising. With her major in physics, Bolt’s technical background and communication skills made her “an obvious choice.” Over

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USD MAGAZINE