M. Holland Internships Focus on Opportunities in Plastics

Our 2023 interns studied a diverse range of interests, from engineering and HR to logistics and IT. They embraced a hybrid work environment, continuing the successful trend of both in-person and remote collaboration for the third consecutive year. They were based near M. Holland’s headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois; Technical Innovation Center in Easton, Pennsylvania; and office in Mexico City.

Within their departments, interns gained valuable hands-on experience, actively contributing to business-critical projects and collaborating closely with our talented Mployees to address real challenges. We are excited to see interns becoming passionate about plastics industry challenges. This year, the interns agreed that they had meaningful work to keep them engaged and inspired to learn.

For example, Logistics Intern Lindsey Rogers analyzed data to identify dry van distance reduction opportunities and completed a logistics scorecard assessment during her internship. Technical Service Lab Interns Frank Grabowski and Luke Goodhope worked in our Technical Innovation Center in Easton, Pennsylvania. They both focused on compound formulation and used the laboratory equipment to perform material testing and requests. Innovation and Technology interns Dante Clark and Valerie Wilson learned all they could about DevOps, Microsoft Power BI, data governance and generative AI.

Tony Hoechbauer, Manager, Enterprise Data Architecture & Analytics in IT at M. Holland, noted that our interns brought a fresh perspective to the team. “Valerie and Dante learned many data warehouse developer skills and quickly put them to use. They developed new SQL scripts that will significantly improve our extract, transform, load (ETL) process. They created Power BI dashboards and learned about data governance to help make a real difference in our work,” Tony said. “I’m very proud of our internship program at M. Holland. Some of our former interns have gone on to be analytics managers, corporate strategy analysts and even data engineers at major tech companies.” 

M. Holland takes pride in an internship program that offers valuable real-world experiences and professional growth for students. Their positive attitudes and hard work result in meaningful contributions to M. Holland and the plastics industry, and we are honored to play a pivotal role in their developmental journey.

M. Holland’s program opens interns’ eyes to the array of careers in plastics. “It’s fascinating to see the behind-the-scenes of how the industry operates,” said HR Operations Intern Chloe Bleck, adding that her positive experience in 2022 is why she chose to intern at M. Holland for a second summer. “I was an intern last summer and loved it. When I was offered the chance to be a part of the M. Holland team again this year, I couldn’t refuse.”

The future is top of mind for these students, and they’re also interested in exploring what sustainability means when it comes to plastics. Lindsey has an interest in improving the environmental, societal and logistical impact of plastics. “Since plastics are ubiquitous, it’s important to utilize them efficiently and sustainably,” she said.

“The direction the plastics industry is going is very interesting to me,” said Frank. “As the industry moves toward more sustainable options, there is a lot of room for innovation and discovery.”

We thank this year’s interns, look forward to seeing where these talented individuals take their careers post-graduation, and are happy for the opportunity to nurture new talent in the years to come.

For more information on what it’s like to work for M. Holland and current career opportunities, visit: www.mholland.com/careers.