Intern Spotlight: Shannon Clark

Shannon Clark of Spencer is one of the Marketing and Operations interns for Community Insurance this summer. A senior at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, Clark is majoring in communications with an emphasis in graphic design and journalism and a minor in humanities. 

Clark wanted an internship in the area where she could hone her graphic design skills. “My main goal was to get a job in Spencer where I could also do graphic design,” Clark explained. “Liz Kluver, an instructor in the Harold Walter Siebens School of Business at BVU, told me that Scott [Simpson] was looking for someone and asked if I would be interested.”

The position with Community Insurance has proven to be beneficial so far. “I wanted to develop my skills in graphic design,” said Clark. “That was my main thing for the summer was to just work on those and photography, and Scott is allowing me to do both which is great. And then I wanted to get my name out in Spencer because I’m hoping to come back to the area.”

“We are excited to have Shannon on our team this summer,” said Scott Simpson, President of Community Insurance. “She brings a great perspective to our business! We are excited to introduce her to the insurance industry as well as providing an opportunity to enhance her skills while helping us expand our marketing and social media presence.”

In addition to working on strengthening her current skills, Clark mentioned the opportunity to explore new areas. She also added, "It’s really great that I also get to know not just graphic design and photography, but I get to learn public relations, and then I get to learn from Scott how you put those together in a business.” 

A piece of advice that she wanted to share with others was to take any opportunity they might be presented with, saying, “When looking for internships, stay open to different possibilities. Last summer, I worked at the radio station, and I thought that was what I wanted to do, but I found out after working there that I loved the people, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So even if you’re on the edge about it, go do an internship so you know for sure whether or not you actually want to do it, and then try to do as many different internships as you can.” 

About the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is the regional economic development agency for Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. The Iowa Lakes Corridor’s mission is to foster, encourage, promote, aid or otherwise assist in the economic development growth and development of the four-county region.