Last Friday, the Indy Chamber hosted Indy Intern Connection in partnership with Indiana INTERNnet at the Fountain Square Theatre Building. Employers and interns from all over the city were invited to hang out on the rooftop garden, play duckpin bowling, and network.
The Director of Policy & Civic Engagement at the Indy Chamber and Indiana INTERNnet Board of Directors Member, Matt Impink, played a big part in organizing the event. He said that one of the main goals of the event was to encourage connections between interns, who will ideally be the future professionals of Indiana. He, and many other groups in Indiana, hope to encourage young Hoosiers to continue to live and work here. This combats the âbrain drainâ issueâthat many of Indianaâs best and brightest leave Indiana to work elsewhere.
Many interns were from Indiana, but there was a decent handful who werenât. In addition to encouraging current Indiana residents to continue living here, itâs important to attract those from out-of-state, too. In 2015, a study by Atlas Van Lines found that Indiana had the third-highest rate of outbound migration in the country. In addition, they found that more people have moved out of Indiana than into it for each of the last 10 years.
Interns from a variety of organizations attended, from Eli Lilly to the Office of Mayor Joe Hogsett. After the event, everyone was encouraged to check out the many fun things Fountain Square has to offer, like art galleries, shops, and free short film screenings at Heartland Film.
Check out the video I made of the event below and stay tuned for our next event at The Childrenâs Museum of Indianapolis!