Auto Care Insider Volume 101 - 19

points in my career," said Smith. "I was treated well, so I want to give back." GCommerce began working with Grinnell for interns in 2005, and they were determined to get out of the "old model" into a modern-day engagement between students and a real world work environment. "We don't want to waste our interns, so we focus on their course of study and their talents, and capitalize on them. The relationship is mutually beneficial, and it is important to us that they have a good experience." "We identify our interns' strengths and company's needs," said Stevens. "We don't want to waste our interns, so we focus on their course of study and their talents, and capitalize on them. The relationship is mutually beneficial, and it is important to us that they have a good experience." "Having lived abroad during part of my career, I developed an admiration for the European system of apprenticeships," said Smith, "so I wanted to foster this type of program in a corporate culture here in the states when I started GCommerce in 2000." The GCommerce internship program began with Smith lecturing to international students at the Donald and Winifred Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership at Grinnell. This private liberal arts college has a large population of international students from Vietnam, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, Chile and China, which is the home to their 2016 Internship Scholarship recipient, math major Yimin Wu. Wu is completing an eight-week summer internship in the GCommerce implementation department. "We wanted to utilize Yimin's math skills," said Stevens. "So he is doing a deep analytic dive to determine the success of our processes - reviewing data, preparing and presenting reports, all in an effort to increase our efficiencies. He has provided wonderful insights on statistical trends, and set up programs that we will use long after he completes his internship." "I wholeheartedly appreciate the support from the Auto Care Association and AWDA," said Wu. "The scholarship helped to defray my housing rent and travel expense, and hence made it possible for me to complete a wonderful internship at GCommerce, where I, for the first time, delved into the distribution of the auto care industry." While its longest internship relationship is with Grinnell, GCommerce also has had interns from other Iowa schools including William Penn College in Oskaloosa; Buena Vista University in Storm Lake; Simpson College in Indianola; and Drake University in Des Moines. "We like to pay it forward and keep it in our community," said Smith. "We are not just a technology company - we are looking to solve problems and seek out talented people who are naturally curious to help us achieve this goal." Among these talented people are two recent interns from William Penn, including one who was just hired permanently by GCommerce. Smith estimates that they ultimately hire about one out of every four interns to work at the company. For other companies hoping to create and establish similar internal internship programs, Stevens recommends "posting the internship positions as if hiring." "The students will see that the work of the internships requires actual skills and commitment, and will be engaging and stimulating," said Stevens. Internally, Smith says it is critical for someone in the work sponsoring company to "own" the organization's internship program for it to be successful. GCommerce believes all the work is worth it, because internships make it easy to create a path for talented people who want to work there. "We have a moral obligation to invest in our future," said Smith. "Investing in people matters, helping them in their educational process matters and a supportive, positive culture matters. If you do it right, you get back 10 times what you pay in." For more on how the Auto Care Association Internship Scholarships can help your company, visit http:// www.autocarecareers.org/get-started/ internships-scholarships/. Internship postings are free on the Industry Job Board. For more on GCommerce, visit www.gcommerceinc.com. 2016 Scholarship Recipients Alesandra D'Agostino Livonia, Mich., Northwood University, intern at Bosch, Broadview, Ill. Brenna Murphy Midland, Mich., Northwood University, intern at Bosch, Broadview, Ill. Ryan Thurston Midland, Mich., Northwood University, intern at KYB, San Diego, Calif. Yimin Wu Jiangsu, China, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, intern at GCommerce, Des Moines, Iowa www.autocare.org 19 http://www.autocarecareers.org/get-started/internships-scholarships/ http://www.autocarecareers.org/get-started/internships-scholarships/ http://www.autocarecareers.org/get-started/internships-scholarships/ http://www.gcommerceinc.com http://www.autocare.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Auto Care Insider Volume 101