When students in a marketing class at the College of Business Administration visited Lincoln Industries this spring to learn more about how the company operates, one of the plant tour guides was a current CBA student. Jim Millar, a senior business administration major from Parker, Colorado, has been a business development intern at Lincoln Industries for more than two years, and his experience with plant operations gave him the unique ability to talk to fellow students about the company.
“People don’t associate manufacturing with the American economy the way they used to, but one thing I tried to get across is our emphasis on quality at Lincoln Industries is seen in everything we do,” Millar said. “That’s what gives us a competitive advantage.”
Lincoln Industries is an industry leader in chrome plating. To do his job effectively, Millar believes it is important to know as much as possible about the company’s chrome plating process. He emphasized the importance of knowing your business as he showed students around the plant.
“I work on the customer qualification process, so when I talk to customers I have to understand their needs to find out if it’s something we can realistically produce. If the customers have questions, I have to communicate our processes and the quality of our work. I also work with a technical engineer who has a more in-depth understanding of plating,” Millar said.
He credits marketing and sales classes at CBA with helping his customer skills.
Millar (in red jacket) explains plant processes to CBA students
“The classes have been useful in terms of defining deliverables and talking with customers about project specifics as we go through the process. It’s all about meeting customer expectations.”
Millar originally learned about the internship from CBA alumnus Mailani Veney, who works at Lincoln Industries as director of business development. Veney was a guest speaker at a Sigma Chi fraternity meeting and mentioned to the group that she was looking to hire an intern.
“I hopped right up, shook her hand and told her I was interested,” Millar said. “Now I work with her at Lincoln Industries. It’s been a great experience.”
He does not have plans yet for what he will be doing after graduation in May, but Millar is interested in continuing his career with Lincoln Industries. He believes the combination of classes at CBA along with his internship have prepared him to work with anyone.
“More than anything I’ve learned how to work with customers. It’s critical to win people over and make them comfortable so they have a good feeling about working with you.”
Students interested in internships can go to their respective department homepage and find links to current internships listed on Husker Hire Link. They can also schedule an appointment to talk with a career coach at Career Services at CBA.
Published: February 26, 2015