Rebecca Kazenoff
2021 Intern
Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s Expansion of the Intern Delaware Program to More Businesses Statewide.
Canalside Inn Co-Owner Dr. Bryan Deptula shares his gratification over the success of their internship program and the contributions of their interns during a WRDE interview.
Click here to watch our interview with WRDE!
From Intern to the Director of Retreats
Marissa Consalo is a perfect example of how Canalside Inn’s intern program fosters an environment for professional and personal growth. Marissa started as an intern in May of 2020. While completing her last semester studying Hospitality and Business Management at the University of Delaware, she worked part-time and excelled greatly.
She made valuable and meaningful contributions that weren’t going unnoticed, so much so, that it was time for her to advance her leadership skills and become Director of Retreats at the Canalside Inn. Since January, she’s been mentoring our spring interns and exemplifying what it is to hone in on your skills and find your niche.
Canalside Inn owners, Dr. Bryan, and Kristen Deptula posted the intern position on a job application program called, “Handshake.” From there, they carefully curated a hiring process that would illustrate the candidate’s creativity and capabilities.
In addition to an interview, candidates were asked to write a poem about what leadership meant to them and create a social media post for one of our events. Allowing candidates to show us more of what they have to offer is part of why we have such an effective team.
Christian Schoen is one of our interns, a Tufts University student studying Spanish and International Relations. Our other two interns attend the University of Delaware, the alma mater of Canalside Inn co-owner, Dr. Deptula. Carly Burns, studying Hospitality and Business Management and the other is Becky Kazenoff studying Communication, Journalism, and Advertising.
A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships
Having such a well-rounded team, we implemented rotations into our program. The internship rotation program allows each intern to learn and expand their knowledge on public relations, marketing, event planning, and retreats. One month is spent at each rotation, offering more room for collaboration with the other interns when they’re transitioning into each other’s roles.
As Dr. Deptula expressed in WRDE’s interview “you find that rising tide lifts all ships…[and] the better they do, the better the organizations do, and the better the actual community does that they live.”
The rotation ensures each intern is getting the most out of their experience at the Canalside Inn, and they have Marissa to look up to as a role model for evolving into what a true leader is. Like our Corporate Retreat, our goal is to extract the leadership qualities within each individual, revealing to them their full potential.
Intern Delaware
With the success of the Canalside Inn’s internship program, Dr. Deptula was eager to contribute to the newly established Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and Intern Delaware’s initiative that could reach an even larger amount of people.
Through this partnership, 21 companies and counting have set up intern programs that motivate scholars and talented individuals to continue their professional development in Delaware after graduation. Source
Intern Delaware’s focus is building the state’s future workforce by connecting over 237 interns with the local economy. Businesses and organizations will become prominent resources for young professionals by increasing their commitments to their existing programs. The focus on better equipping students for transitioning out of college and into the workforce.
Further from growing commitments, a curriculum for the interns will be established to expand the programs’ effectiveness. Experimental programming will also be administered through internship events that display Delaware’s unique professional opportunities.
A “cross-company” program will be established, providing interns the option to work for more than one company. The programs and interns’ progress will be found through a centralized database.
Growing Opportunity Ahead
This enterprise was partly prompted because there were thousands of intern applications for only nearly 20 spots. The lack of available internships was part of the reason Delaware graduates were leaving the state, but the founder of Intern Delaware, Scott Malfitano, wanted to change that.
This program mitigates the rejection many students face when applying for internships. Gradually, more and more companies in Delaware counties are signing onto the program, only providing more opportunity for both Delaware students and Delaware as a state.
The Canalside Inn is looking forward to widening its impact with the help of Intern Delaware and DSCC. We are excited to see our business grow as this program continues to expand.
Our retreats officially kick off in September of 2021 and we are confident that it’ll open many doors, urging us to diversify our team even more. The future of our interns, our business, and the state of Delaware is beyond promising and we hope you can take part in it.
