Experience provides a taste of reality
12/20/2022
Through a Bluffton Bread Company internship, Eli Grieser is learning that a small business does not necessarily mean it is easy to manage.
Grieser gains business experience through two internships
During the fall 2022 semester, Eli Grieser ’23, a business administration and marketing double major from Wauseon, Ohio, completed multiple internships. Grieser worked as a marketing intern for the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce, making promotional advertisements for events such as Discovery Days and Blaze of Lights. This busy Bluffton student-athlete also worked on the business side of things for the Bluffton Bread Company, running the website and working on finances.
For the marketing internship at the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce, Grieser, had multiple tasks such as working on the social media, creating flyers, making pre-promotional advertisements, and learning how to best communicate with local small business owners. Weekly meetings on Fridays were a big part of the marketing internship at the Bluffton Chamber.
“We did a lot of Zoom meetings with business owners to see what certain things they want promoted,” explained Grieser.
He emphasized the impact the business meetings had on him which also taught him how to network.
The best part of the internship was “learning about my marketing major and understanding how communication works in the business and marketing field,” said Grieser.
Though the internship at the Bluffton Chamber is over, Grieser will continue his work with the Bluffton Bread Company into the spring semester to earn internship credits toward his double major. He works on updating the website, keeping track of financials, maintaining a professional business email and managing the schedules of other Bluffton Bread Company employees.
Grieser notes that running the Bluffton Bread Company is “a lot more than what you’d think it would be. You might think it’ll be a little easier being a small business, but it’s not. It’s been a great experience, a great learning experience.”
Grieser is a senior and plans on moving back to Wauseon, Ohio, to work for a family-owned business with the goal of maybe starting his own. He hopes to take all that he’s learned from his four years at Bluffton under the direction of Gary Schiefer, associate professor of business, and other great professors in the business department, back to his hometown.
At Bluffton University, Grieser is super active both inside and outside of the classroom. He played soccer for four years and is the president of BUBL (Bluffton University Business Leaders).
When asked why he chose to come to Bluffton, Grieser explained: “The small classrooms allow you to get to know your professors really easily, so I thought that was a good connection. Also, I’d be able to play soccer!”