Blackhawk Technical College and Rock County are natural allies, working together to support workforce development throughout Rock County. The partnership between the two organizations helps drive a pipeline of talent to area businesses.
Two programs work together to help educate potential workers in Rock County. The first is the Rock Internship Program, begun in 2018, which is focused on high school students. The second is the Rock Externship Program, started in 2022, which provides area high school teachers with direct industry experience they can, in turn, share with their students.
“We are proud of how popular the Rock Internship and Externship programs have become,” said Molly Markley, Community and Continuing Education Coordinator at Blackhawk. “That success is built on collaboration between Blackhawk, Rock County, the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, our schools, and area employers. We’re all committed to preparing students for meaningful careers and strengthening the local workforce.”
Due to the popularity of these programs, the application processes are competitive. This means there are no participation guarantees. Blackhawk handles the administrative and management roles for the programs. For more information, visit www.yourrockinternship.com and www.yourrockexternship.com or contact Markley at 607-757-6329 or mmarkley4@blackhawk.edu.
Rock Internship
Through a partnership with Blackhawk, the County of Rock, Rock County 5.0, and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, the Rock Internship Program is a paid, six-week, earn-and-learn opportunity that provides students with a structured career pathway experience.
“The purpose of the summer Rock Internship Program is to accelerate personal, as well as professional, skills development and career-related exposure for rising High School Seniors,” according to James Otterstein, Rock County’s Economic Development Manager.
Otterstein explained the internship model provides students with a meaningful career pathway experience that serves as a foundational element of their Academic and Career Plan. It positions students for future academic and workplace success.
Participating students gain (or are exposed to) the following skills:
- Interviewing, job searching, and resume building experience
- Direct career exposure at a worksite
- Opportunities to develop or improve communication, critical thinking, leadership, and teamwork skills
- Networking connections
“Think of this program as a structured career-cruising experience–as students are matched with worksites based on their career and/or occupational interests,” Otterstein said. “The program has really helped participants dial in their career choices.”
The Rock Internship program has been running for six summers (the pandemic paused the program in 2020 and 2021). To date, 162 students have successfully completed their internships. On average, there are 27 interns participating in the program each summer. The smallest class, which was the first one in 2018, had 12 interns. The largest class number was 35, which occurred in both 2022 and 2024.
Rock Externship
The Rock Externship Program is a one-week, collaborative, career preparation and readiness offering that provides high school teachers with direct industry sector and career cluster exposure. While primarily targeted at career and technical education, STEM, counseling and/or guidance staff, these externships are also open to other high school personnel who have the ability to influence a student’s Academic and Career Plan.
This program offers area high school staff the ability to immerse themselves into modern business environments and shadow specific occupations and/or disciplines for one week during the summer.
“Ultimately, the goal is to equip instructors with real-time and applicable information, experiences, and training that can then be further incorporated into their lesson plans, curricula delivery models, and overall engagements with students and, hopefully, parents,” Otterstein said.
The Rock Externship program just completed its fourth summer, and 61 high school employees have successfully completed their externships. On average, there are 15 instructors that participate each summer. The largest cohort of externs was 19, in summer 2023 and the smallest group was just this past summer – with 12 participants. The number of applicants every summer exceeds the number of available worksites.
“The feedback gathered from the participants has been outstanding,” Otterstein explained. “There’s been a universal acknowledgement that having access to this type of direct, hands-on experience has contributed significantly to a greater understanding and appreciation of what’s expected in today’s workplace.”
Business development
Once the talent is lined up, the next step is getting the businesses to move in. In order for Rock County to attract new businesses, Otterstein said it needs seven things:
- A diversified and growing economy
- A well-stocked real estate portfolio
- A business-friendly operating environment
- Valued-added financial and technical resources
- Modern and right-sized utilities
- A robust and connected transportation network
- A strong, demand-driven, and vertically integrated talent pipeline development system
Getting everything aligned requires partnerships, as Rock County cannot do it all by itself. “None of this activity happens in a vacuum. There are multiple organizations working in concert to achieve a common outcome,”Otterstein said.
Otterstein said there are about 40 business development opportunities that go through the economic development pipeline each year. They might be startup companies, expanding businesses, or new developments. Over the last five years, about 30% of those opportunities have advanced and led to new business in Rock County.
“There are some projects that begin investigating and researching opportunities in one calendar year only to ‘shelve the project’ due market or economic conditions. Meanwhile, others can and do sometimes surface in one quarterly period and then make a commitment within that same or the immediately following period,” he said. “There is a lot of inherent volatility.”
While helping to develop new businesses can be challenging, it’s made easier with partners who can help share the work.
“Blackhawk is an extremely important business development team member–and one that’s consistently leaned on heavily. They are on the front lines for building and strengthening the workforce pipelines, often serving as direct change agents and related champions for innovative and value-added workforce collaboration,” he explained. “Blackhawk’s expertise and engagement are best in class.”