Internships

We re proud to partner with Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University’s Sustainable Brewing program to announce an incredible opportunity that will help develop and nurture future brewers right here in Michigan. The Bell’s Brewery Development Award will give participants experience in four key departments over the course of one year. Students will rotate through and gain valuable insight into Bell’s Quality, Brewing, Packaging and Brewing Innovation at its main brewery in Comstock. “Talent continues to be in high demand within the brewing industry and by partnering with these two educational institutions, we are able to inspire candidates who not only have a shared passion for Brewing Science, but also roots here in Michigan,” said Carrie M. Yunker, Bell’s Director of Human Resources. Yunker, along with John Mallett, Bell’s Director of Production, and Stephanie Blodgett, Bell’s Talent Acquisition Coordinator, developed this new program with Mike Babb, KVCC Sustainable Brewing Instructor, and Steve Bertman, WMU Department of Chemistry Professor. “Southwest Michigan is a hub for craft brewing in no small part because of Bell’s and this new position is an unbelievable opportunity for our students. Bell’s has put together a thoughtful and generous position for someone to get hands-on experience in all aspects of production at a thriving and world-renowned craft brewery. That they are reserving this position for someone from our program is a recognition of the care and rigor that we have incorporated from the very beginning,” said Bertman. The WMU and KVCC brewing program was developed in 2015 by the two schools working in close coordination with the industry. The resulting “two-plus-two” program in sustainable craft brewing offers students the opportunity to earn a certificate or associate degree at KVCC, then move on to a Bachelor of Science degree at WMU. The rigorous science curriculum was developed with input from an external advisory board comprised of a dozen of Michigan's top craft brewers, many of them in West Michigan, which has one of the country's highest per-capita densities of craft brewers. “This is the kind of collaboration that we envisioned when we created the program together with KVCC,” said Bertman. “Partnering the strengths of the two largest institutions of higher education in Kalamazoo with the incredibly experienced and diverse breweries in the area provides a great structure for students who are interested in enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the industry.” “We are more than delighted that Bell's is providing this opportunity for our graduates,” Babb added. “As a leader in the craft brewing industry, we sincerely appreciate Bell's support of our award winning program and students.” Nationally, craft beer accounts for more than 12 percent of beer sales, and the industry is becoming a significant generator of jobs and revenues. Craft brewing contributed $2.09 billion to Michigan’s economy in 2016 according to the Brewers’ Association, making it 9th on the list of states in which the industry has the greatest economic impact. WMU and KVCC will start accepting submissions in January. The final day to apply will be March 1 and the internship will begin on April 30. Those selected must have a completed a KVCC Sustainable Brewing Certificate from the recognized program. This opportunity is available exclusively to KVCC and WMU students.

Editor's note: Trisha, who wrote this piece, worked  with our marketing team as our communications intern during the summer of 2017. She was a recent graduate of Kalamazoo College.   As summer heads off, so do our summer interns- back to school, to work or to continue here at Bell's.  For the third year in a row, we have offered a summer internship program to students and recent graduates throughout the United States. This year, 11 interns joined our family to work in several of our departments including: quality, safety, creative, marketing, engineering, wellness, data, point of sale and sustainability.  From the first week on the job, our interns were welcomed into the family through an immersive on-boarding experience. This week was spent providing an overview of benefits, important company values such as our safety always culture, and of course a bit of beer education. Following the on-boarding program ourinterns were treated as if they were any other full time employee. The work the interns were assigned, “were projects that full time employees get” Talent Acquisition Coordinator, Stephanie Blodgett explained. "It was a big deal for us to provide an internship that really felt like they were at work." Throughout the summer, the interns individually accomplished several influential projects for the company including developing an on-site composting program for our Comstock brewery and the BOB (our main office building), creating label art work, organizing cultural programs and performing research on dry hop creep. The interns also took part in several social aspects that come along with being a part of the Bell’s family such as: the volunteer day, enjoying time at the Eccentric Cafe with coworkers, weekly beer benefits, wellness activities and the occasional shifty, for those who whom were of legal drinking age.  “All of us interns have been able to work together from very different areas, very different people," Lexi Janego, Wellness Intern said. "So it’s been cool to see how everybody works and gets along.” As this year's class of interns head off to continue on their next adventures, they have not only left their mark on Bell's, but Bell's has left their mark on them. Vince Perez, Engineering Intern explained that the engineering projects he worked on during his time here would be beneficial "not only going into my senior year but also going into my full time career as well."  In future years Blodgett said she hopes to expand the internship program into other areas "As we grow as a company, I hope that our internship program also will."  Keep an eye out for future internship position postings and check out our careers page for other opportunities to join our Bell's family.  [[{"fid":"5125","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]