Grote Industries

More than a century ago, William Grote saw a future not only in a particular line of products but also in groundbreaking production processes. Even as the company he launched established itself as a leading supplier of visibility and safety products, it also emerged as a manufacturing trailblazer. It was first to introduce injection-molded plastic products to the nation and to create a plastic-injection molding machine. A reflector technology Grote Industries developed decades ago remains the industry standard. 

The years since those early breakthroughs have seen an endless parade of firsts, from new visibility products and wiring systems to industry certifications and global expansions. Through it all, the company with locations in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia remains dedicated to the 400+ employees who work at its Madison headquarters and the community they call home. 

Like most large firms, Grote Industries has a long-standing internship program. However, Grote Industries sees its intern program as a sharp contrast to all-too-common internship programs that give young people busy work no one else wants to do in exchange for a line on their resume. 

The hope is that Grote Industries will attract a higher-level internship candidate and convert more of its interns to future employees – possibly before they even walk out the door on the last day of their internship.  

To this end, the company has worked to sharpen its internship program. After a cohort of 18 last year, the company reduced the size of its internship class to 11 this year, ensuring it can give the program more attention and the resources it needs to succeed.  

In many ways, Grote Industries’ intern program might seem identical to many others. It works to welcome interns in every area of the company and to expose them to as many areas and departments of the company as possible.  

In other ways, though, the company has sought to make their program unique. Individual experiences are tailored as much as possible toward the interns’ areas of interest, and once interns are onboard, Grote Industries ensures they get to work on real projects, as opposed to picking up small tasks just to occupy their time. The interns work the same hours as the departments they’re attached to, rather than floating in and out on a dedicated “intern schedule.” 

Grote Industries strives to make the program even more meaningful for the students by connecting them more directly with the company’s culture and leadership. A key component of this effort is what’s been dubbed “Espresso Insights,” a two-on-two casual gathering with Grote Industries C-suite executives and other leaders that allows the interns to ask questions and learn about the industry from the front-office. The connection also reduces the intimidation that young people typically would feel with leaders, and allows them to continue to feel comfortable chatting with the leaders if they should see them in the hall or run into them at a meeting.  

The interns also are included in company events while they’re there, such as cookouts and team-building outings. They also do a service activity in which the interns give back to the facility. This year they picked up trash outside and painted inside. In addition, they enjoy National Intern Day focused on fun and community, with a scavenger hunt that sends the interns into downtown Madison to visit local businesses and prompts them to do things such as act out scenes from movies, fun group photos and so on. We finish out this event with a networking opportunity with their managers and the C-suite executives, this year was duckpin bowling at Vintage Lanes. The internship ends with each intern giving a 15-minute presentation for managers, leaders and other interns on what they learned from the internship.  

Like many advanced manufacturers, Grote Industries is known in its community, and many people in the area know people who work there, but many outsiders don’t know much about what goes on inside the company’s walls or what kind of operation Grote Industries runs. Internships have been an important part of opening young people’s eyes to the career possibilities in that big building north of town and helping them realize how high-tech and cutting-edge manufacturing has become. 

The team at Grote Industries believes that its sharper emphasis on the quality of the experience, on the opportunity to help young people shape their careers rather than simply enhance their resumes and on immersing them in the company’s culture increases the appeal of its internship program. Exposing interns to leadership early in the experience enhances their sense of connection, and making the internship as fun as it is meaningful not only enhances the experience for the interns but also brings fresh energy to the company as whole. To these ends, the company puts a lot of energy into the internship experience, beginning the planning for the next program almost as soon as one ends.  

The specific goal of the program is simple: To find future Grote Industries employees and engage them as early as possible. In the course of the last 10 years, the company has welcomed 120 interns into its Madison plant; 13 later became employees. The company hopes to increase that success rate, and early indicators are that it is on the right path: This year it had more internship applicants than internship opportunities.