The EDGE Fellows program, powered by MAGNET, is an innovative internship program that connects local businesses with college economics students. EDGE, which stands for Economic Development for Growing Enterprises, is currently in its 17th year of generating and expanding on ideas that help businesses grow.
The EDGE Fellows program matches talented graduate-level students with businesses to explore growth opportunities. This year, 12 students from various Ohio colleges were selected, including both graduate and undergraduate students.
Chris Keller, the Director of the EDGE program, gave all participants an overview of each of the companies and project proposals. The students ranked each one. Then, Chris and the 12 EDGE mentors spent time getting to know each of the Fellows. This included testing their strengths using old project proposals and even giving them a Myers-Briggs test to determine who would work well together. In the end, the EDGE Fellows program created six groups of two, with two mentors assigned to each group, with the goal of helping their assigned business.
We were assigned two outstanding EDGE Fellows: Michelle Clever, a Master’s candidate in Economics and Economic Analysis at Kent State University, and Brady Anashansel, an undergraduate Economics student at Ohio State University. Their mentors were Laura Larson and Torrey Babson, who were both new to the EDGE Fellows program this year and served as integral support for guiding them through their project. Both Brady and Michelle rated Buckeye Innovation as their top choice, and their passion was evident from the beginning!
Market Research
Michelle and Brady hit the ground running. On their second day of working with us, they interviewed several of our current clients to collect data on what we were doing well and what we could improve upon. Over the next few weeks, they conducted more interviews, consulted their mentors, and presented their findings to our Business Development team every week. In all, they interviewed 9 clients, 1 expert, and 6 competitors. They also conducted secondary market research facilitated by research librarians at Case Western Reserve University.
Over time, Michelle said, the scope of their project changed. They initially believed that they would be focusing their efforts on how to get us new clients, but quickly realized that we’re pretty efficient at that. One of the areas we need to improve, however, is outlining the variety of support services we offer for our existing clients. Based on client interviews, they also recommended that we change some of the language in our proposals and other client-facing documentation, keeping in mind that our clients are typically not as immersed in the world of technology as we are. Brady and Michelle also mentioned that many of our competitors are doing a better job of posting quick updates to social media when they complete projects.
Quick Results
As a requirement for the program, participants completed a report, a presentation for stakeholders at their host company, and a final public presentation. Their report to Buckeye staff was very well-planned and well-received, as they not only pointed out some areas for improvement, but also gave us actionable steps to make change. This saved us so much time and labor as a company, because many of their recommendations were things we knew were pain points, but that we hadn’t been able to allocate resources to solve.
We are already implementing many of the changes that our EDGE Fellows recommended. We are revising our proposal language to be clearer for clients, enhancing the information provided to our support clients, and establishing a system for more frequent project updates. Their feedback has made a noticeable impact on how we operate and communicate with our clients.
When asked about her EDGE experience, Michelle said, “ I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. Getting to work with this team and get to know everyone has been amazing. Learning from a company that lives its values has been such a great opportunity.”
Working with the EDGE Fellows Program was a great opportunity, too. We are so thankful for the work that Michelle and Brady did this summer to help Buckeye Innovation maximize our impact on the community.
Get Involved
For anyone interested in participating in the EDGE Fellows program—whether as a student or a participating business—consider reaching out! The program is also expanding to offer part-time internships during the school year starting this fall, providing even more opportunities for growth and learning. For more information, contact: chris@edgeneo.org
