San Jose Office of
Economic Development
Economics Major, Art History Minor
Home Town: Portland, Oregon
What were your responsibilities at your internship with the San Jose Office of Economic Development?
As the business outreach intern at the San Jose Office of Economic Development, you will engage in extensive research of local businesses and their needs––through direct outreach to companies and supplemented by independent analysis. You will attend meetings with companies, site visits, and conferences that offer insight into the industries that make up the business fabric of San Jose. You will engage in projects that support the OED team’s work––from updating the city’s map of all ongoing development projects, to gathering information on employment numbers from local businesses, to even analyzing the economic viability of potential new uses for underdeveloped sites. While these are some examples of the types of projects you might work on, the work will vary widely based on current events and current needs––much of OED work is about reacting quickly to what’s happening locally and nationally, so flexibility is key!
In what ways do you think you made positive contributions to the San Jose Office of Economic Development?
The work that you will do as an intern at the OED is ultimately invaluable to the team. I was never given “busy work” or “intern work”––every task and project I completed had a concrete, real, and measurable value to the team and to my supervisor. More than that, there were clear stakes with my work––the research I conducted and compiled was often cited as the primary research on a topic or report given to politicians, companies, and other critical figures.
What would you recommend to LSB students who want to make a difference in the community?
To any LSB students who want to make a difference in their community, start getting involved in any way you can! There are so many programs offered and facilitated through SCU that will allow you to get out into the local community and start serving. While these are all critical programs doing invaluable work, there is minimal overlap as a business student between what you learn in class and the nature of your service work. The LSB Community Fellows Program is an extraordinarily unique opportunity because it allows you to serve your community in a manner that directly reflects and applies the skillset you are learning every day in your business core and major classes. I personally can see no better way to serve than at the overlap of what this community needs and what skills you have to offer.