SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - When Nick Moore started an internship at Hanson Professional Services in 2014, his first project was determining how much material was needed for a section of the high-speed rail corridor between Chicago and Joliet.
“In class, they teach you all this theory and all these made-up problems,” said the Springfield High School graduate who was studying engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at the time. “Coming here, it’s real life. This is what I learned in class, and this is how I can apply it here, seeing how it all links up.”
Hanson hired Moore when he graduated in May. He says he probably wouldn’t have returned to Springfield after college if not for his internship with the local firm that he found through the Grow Our Own Minority Participation Program.
The program is a joint endeavor between Hanson, the city and Sangamon County that started three years ago in the midst of debates about minority hiring for Springfield’s rail consolidation project.
“The drive behind the program was actually taking a look at trying to find qualified African-American engineers and having a difficulty in doing that,” said Sergio Pecori, Hanson’s chief executive officer.
Community advocates and officials agree the program that aims to get young people, particularly young people of color, interested in science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — careers has been a success.
The county, city and Hanson each contribute $20,000 annually to fund the program. With that, Hanson coordinates activities, including full-time internships and visits for middle and high school students to engineering programs at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. They’ve also sponsored high school students to attend a rail tech summer camp at Michigan Technological University.
Hiring engineers who are minorities is not a challenge unique to Springfield. According to the National Science Foundation, black men made up 6 percent of the population in 2015 but only filled 3 percent of science and technology jobs, while black women made up 7 percent of the population and filled 2 percent of the jobs. The lack of men and women of color in science and engineering fields has been a topic of debate on the national level for the last few years, prompting initiatives from former President Barack Obama to invest federal money in STEM education opportunities.
Don Ross, a member and past president of the Springfield Frontiers International, sees the program as a way to expose young black men to different career opportunities.
“We’ve had several kids that have either gone through an engineering program or are contemplating engineering. It’s opened the eyes of several of our kids,” Ross said of the Frontiers’ youth group that participates in an annual trip to visit the U of I.
Beyond getting young people interested in careers, Gail Simpson, a former Springfield City Council member and mayoral candidate, says it’s important that they know Springfield has jobs for them.
“A lot of young people leave Springfield and don’t come back because there’s no real employment here,” she said. “They opt to go to larger cities, especially if they’re in the engineering fields, because that’s where the jobs are.”
That’s the impression Moore had. He says many of his friends from college went to work in St. Louis, and he likely would have, too. But he sees advantages to staying and working in his hometown.
“If you go to a bigger company in St. Louis, you’re kind of another number,” Moore said. “But here, you actually get to talk to people, have a mentor. … There’s more of a family feel.”
Matt Heyen, an engineer with Hanson Professionals, says having young people around the office is helpful for his work, too.
“The energy that the interns bring, they’re excited. They’re new; they’re asking questions,” he said. “It’s contagious because I can see when we get a new intern that’s working on a project, it helps with the morale of the project team.”
Hanson has hosted interns every summer since 2014 and hired three engineers through the program, according to Kevin Seals, who coordinates it.
Through the program, the city has offered internships in its sewer department to a couple of college students in 2014 and 2015, according to public works director Mark Mahoney. The plan is to expand the opportunities to the road division this summer.
While the city has come under criticism for a lack of diversity in its workforce, Mahoney sees the program as a way to change that.
“That is our long-term goal, to create a farm system where you’re giving experience to potential employees to the city,” Mahoney said.
The county is looking to hire a full-time intern in the highway division for this summer as well, county administrator Brian McFadden said.
The Grow Our Own program also inspired a similar initiative launched last year with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Lincoln Land Community College. The three-year pilot program funded with $285,000 focuses on matching African-American students with internships with local businesses.
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Source: The (Springfield) State Journal-Register, https://bit.ly/2kUl0Xe
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, https://www.sj-r.com
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