2023 Talent Dubuque: An Intern Engagement Program Wraps Up

By all estimates, this year’s Talent Dubuque: An Intern Engagement Program was a huge success! Talent Dubuque launched in 2019 and has now welcomed nearly 500 interns to the Greater Dubuque region with inspiring outings and dynamic presenters. This year was our biggest year yet with 178 interns registered by 29 area employers!

This Summer’s six events blended professional development and community engagement to reinforce Greater Dubuque Development’s efforts to inspire students to establish roots here, launch their career with an area employer, and become a long-term member our regional workforce. 

“In addition to developing their professional skills and personal networks, we see Talent Dubuque as an ideal opportunity to help our employers immerse their Summer interns in the community, connecting them with all that the Greater Dubuque region has to offer,” says Mandi Dolson, Director of Workforce Recruitment & Retention at Greater Dubuque Development. “When choosing one’s career path, what a community offers in terms for livability, accessibility, and inclusiveness is often just as important as the salary and benefits a job provides.”

Interns took part in a welcome event in early June featuring presentations by community leaders and an interactive personality assessment with Kathie Rotz of Unity Consulting. The event schedule balanced two Young Professional (YP) lunches with evening outings that introduced interns to Dubuque events and places including trivia nights, the Historic Millwork District, and the Millwork Night Market. The series wrapped up on Wednesday, July 26 over lunch with featured speaker, Alex Dixon, President & CEO of DRA / Q Casino and the 2023-2024 Board Chair of Greater Dubuque Development Corporation.

Thank you to the area employers that enrolled interns in this year’s program: Andersen Windows & Doors Corporation, Area Residential Care, AssuredPartners Great Plains dba The Friedman Group, A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co, Bimbo Bakeries USA, City of Dubuque, Colony Brand, Conlon Construction Co., Cottingham & Butler, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, East Dubuque Nitrogen Fertilizers LLC, Eide Bailly LLP, FEH Design, Flexsteel Industries Inc., Hillcrest Family Services, Honkamp P.C., John Deere Dubuque Works, Kendall Hunt/Westmark Enterprises/Great River Learning, Kunkel & Associates Inc., McGraw Hill Companies, Medical Associates Clinic P.C., MedOne, Origin Design, Progressive Processing/Hormel Foods, Propulse, a Schieffer Company, Rite-Hite Corp., Simmons Pet Food, TH Media, Veenstra & Kimm Inc.

Thank you to the investors in Greater Dubuque Development and our Workforce Solutions Programming that include AccessDubuqueJobs.com and Talent Dubuque, among others. Together with partners like TH Media and Northeast Iowa Community College, we can share the great news, YOU can be great here.