Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017 - 23

GreaterReadingChamber.org

that organizes courses and career internship opportunities into five
career clusters. Internships are taken as a one-credit course and we
have capstone courses that are a culmination of a pathway.
"In summary," adds Pleis, "we have had measurable success as
multiple students have gained employment at a company where they
have interned as well as received college scholarship opportunities.
Some of our students have even had their college tuition paid by
their internship employers."

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The success of these high school partnerships has resonated
among smaller companies as well. Mike Kautter, Principal, Kautter
& Kelley Architects (KK&A), echoed Pleis' comments, noting that
KK&A has been very pleased with their internship experiences with
the Reading School District.
"In the summer of 2009," states Kautter, "we sought to assist
Reading High School with the placement of a graduating senior
in a professional working environment prior to their commencing
college. Typically, we do not consider "summer internships" for
students that have not yet begun college, but we made an exception
for this young man. After working through the summer, he was
later hired and worked part-time during winter and summer breaks
through May 2011. The young man has been a full-time employee
since that time but, more importantly, he is currently enrolled
at Drexel University in their 7-year Architectural BArch degree
program. He attends school two nights/week during the year. We
allow him to work on his college assignments during the work day
as necessary and he leaves early on the days he has classes."
Despite being a smaller firm with limited employment needs,
K&KA decided to make a larger commitment to internships based
on their past success. "This year we have committed to working
with a Reading High School student intern," says Kautter. "Several
students will be interviewed by the firm in early September and,
based on the interview, K&KA will select one of the candidates for
a paid internship which will have the student working in the office
side-by-side with young architects, in the afternoon after school
during the work week."

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KK&A has also been active with summer college internships.
They typically hire college students studying architecture at
an accredited college or university, who have completed their
sophomore or junior year. If the internship is successful they often
have the students return over their winter break, and possibly for the
next summer. "Ultimately," shares Kautter, "K&KA will hire college
graduates with a minimum 5-year professional degree or 6-year
master degree. K&KA has also worked with RACC in its Talent
Search/Upward Bound program during the last 10 years."
Building a stronger pipeline for current and future employees
is not an easy task, and a robust economy does not make it easier.
However, a strong commitment of time and resources for education
and training can, ultimately, lead to bigger dividends as a welltrained and committed employee could be the x-factor for building
your company. We have many great partners and resources. While
finding employees is a challenge for all employers during this time
we invite you to contact us or one of the many partners listed in
this article to share your successes or seek more information on
apprenticeship, internship and workforce training opportunities so
we may continue to build our community for a more robust future.

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23

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017