In 2019, Kadant Black Clawson extended its cooperative education program at its Ohio headquarters by introducing paid internships in the marketing and sales department. Having known the value of mentorships since its founding in 1873, Kadant Black Clawson has continued this long history of skills development by working with Cincinnati’s largest universities to find creative, graduation-bound candidates with graphic design, animation, and marketing communication career goals.

Along with providing new generations of students with a variety of useful, industry-based experience, Kadant Black Clawson can bridge the gap between classroom and career by incubating talent while freshening its own messaging to an ever evolving and more youthful market. Students have helped create educational and promotional product content such as animations, presentations, and online tools while under expert direction from its seasoned marketing staff. The benefits are mutual and have shown a great return for all involved.

Currently, Kadant Black Clawson has two young designers onboard. University of Cincinnati student Jenna Bertke has returned for her second quarter. She is working with engineers to develop an online tool demonstrating Kadant Black Clawson’s system capabilities in chemical pulping and fiber processing. She adds, “I feel like my work is really contributing. And it’s cool to see the stuff we make appear on an international scale.”

Her counterpart, Kyle Homan, hails from Cincinnati State and is creating event graphics as well as a short promotional video for social media. Kyle reflects, “My time at Kadant has increased my awareness of what is expected in the field. It’s given me the chance to collaborate with others in a real-world environment and effectively present my creative ideas to decision makers.”

Kadant highly supports co-operative education in all fields and would encourage other employers to discover the advantages firsthand.

To find out more about our current university partners, contact Cincinnati State and The University of Cincinnati.