Specialty Fabrics Review April 2020 - 40

MAKING INTERNS

I

FEEL WELCOME

t doesn't take long to realize that at Global Impex USA, a canvas
supplier headquartered in St. Cloud, Minn., the attitude is that the
company exists to help its workers, not the other way around.
The company was founded in 2017 by King Mukherjee, a business
professor at nearby St. John's University and a veteran of the textile
business. From the beginning, says Mukherjee, the goal was to provide
young people from area colleges the opportunity to learn business in
general and the textile trade in particular.
Currently, says Mukherjee, the company has about 20 interns
from St. John's as well as St. Cloud State University, the University
of Minnesota (the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses) and a number of
other schools. "This gives them a foot in the door," he says. "It gives
them some experience in a corporate culture."
Mukherjee says students are attracted to the program because they
are given substantial responsibilities, such as in sales and marketing,
while working flexible schedules, including at a co-working space in
downtown Minneapolis.
"The students also like that we don't micromanage them," he adds.
"We just give them some direction and let them go at it. They're looking
for experience-that's the most important thing.
"Our industry has not done a good job of reaching out beyond the
industry itself," he says. "People don't know about it or why they should
be interested in it. What we're doing is trying to generate some interest
in our industry as a career path."

King Mukherjee (second from the right) welcomes interns at Global Impex USA,
a company he founded in 2017. Mukherjee says the textile industry could do
a better job reaching out to young people. Photo: Global Impex USA.

during an era that celebrates innovation,
instant gratification, collaboration,
globalization-a totally new value system."
Sladek says young people can struggle
in traditional companies that are based in
industrial-era values and processes.
"Naturally, the leaders and the managers
tend to say, 'Oh my gosh, you young people
are so difficult and you don't want to
work.' And the young people say, 'You're so
stubborn and you're stuck in your ways and
you're not open to new ideas.' Then there's
a chasm, and turnover occurs."
UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES
If there is a stalemate here, then, who
needs to change?
"There are people who won't like this
answer," says Sladek. "But it's the leaders."
Sladek says there's no use denying the
shift or change from the industrial-era to
the post-industrial-era in recent years. It's
a change that favors the innovative and
more global skill sets and perspectives
of the younger generation. She believes
the companies that will continue to
succeed are those led by people who can
compromise, are open to new ideas and
people, and are willing to adapt.
"A lot of people jump to the conclusion
that we have to entirely cater to young
people, but that's not what I'm saying,"
she says. "You make room for them, have
dialogue with them, and you seek common
ground. Every generation has something
to learn and something to teach. That's
the untapped opportunity."
SUCCESSFUL CHANGE
IS POSSIBLE
If change has to happen, there are
educators and fabricators out there who
are finding ways to do it successfully.
Charles "Mac" McDonald, an instructor
at WyoTech, a technology school in
Laramie, Wyo., that includes a specialty
curriculum in trim and upholstery, says
he finds it important these days to allow

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Specialty Fabrics Review April 2020

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