By Quanice Shumpert and Cody Price

Located downtown in the Lazarus building, the Columbus Chamber has become a learning lab for two Ohio State University students, Quanice Shumpert and Cody Price. Both seniors, Quanice comes from an economic background, whereas Cody is the Chamber’s first city and regional planning intern. Both are interning in the economic development department of the Chamber, specializing in economic analysis.

Quanice’s Experience

As a Columbus Chamber Intern, I am given an insight into a whole new business world that you only learn and read about in college. My internship experience is everything I thought that it would be, and more. This experience will help me gain a better understanding of the possibilities my major in economics offers me.

So far I have sat in on major staff meetings, discussing the changes at the Chamber and the role of Columbus 2020!

My internship coordinator, Dr. Bill LaFayette, has exciting new projects for me to dig into every day. From analyzing data for quarterly reports to preparing economic/demographic assessments for new business ventures to come into Columbus, every task has a real life purpose and meaning.  I truly feel like I’m learning valuable information for my career in economics and building bridges and networking connections to last a lifetime.

Cody’s Experience

Being the Chamber’s first city and regional panning intern first came as a shock to me, because economic development is a key part in planning a successful city. When first interviewing for the position, Dr. Bill LaFayette and I hit it off for we had a similar interest in real estate. Dr. LaFayette received his Ph.D. in Real Estate from The Ohio State University, and being interested in real estate myself, I knew this would be a great fit.

When I first started working for the Chamber, I was involved in numerous data analysis projects that would analyze employment and population statistics for the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area. From this, we would be able to project future trends and find out “the behind-the-scenes” answers to questions such as, “why has the employment rate decreased?” Knowing how to interpret data is a vital part to most careers nowadays because computers are used to compute the data but they are not able to actually analyze the data, which is where I assist Dr. LaFayette in this process.

We have now added more exciting adventures and are currently working on an investment opportunity for the downtown Columbus area. Learning the ropes on how a project is first started to its completion is a valuable learning experience which cannot be taught inside a classroom. I am very excited to have been given this opportunity and will value this experience when I further my career after graduation in spring 2011.

Quanice Shumpert is a senior majoring in economics at The Ohio State University. She is originally from Columbus, OH.

Cody Price is a senior majoring in city and regional planning at The Ohio State University. He is originally from Marion, OH.