Cities see interns as an investment in the future

Eric Schumacher is working to draw developers to a piece of land in Oakdale, but it's unlikely he'll be with the city long enough to see it built up. He's an intern.

By bringing students like Schumacher to City Hall, his boss, City Administrator Craig Waldron, is preparing to fill behind public servants who haven't yet retired.

Across the Twin Cities and the United States, a larger share of workers are nearing retirement in the public than in the private sector, and there's some doubt there will be younger, qualified people to replace them. Nationwide, 49.4 percent of local government workers were set to reach retirement age over the next 20 years, compared with 37.4 percent in the private sector, according to 2006 census data, the most recent available.

Kevin Frazell, director of member services for the League of Minnesota Cities, is one of several who have noticed a generation gap among local government workers, a situation he traces to strong anti-government philosophy prevalent in the 1970s and '80s. A preference for the private sector led to graduate programs in public administration shutting down in the '80s and '90s, he said.

So in some cities, low-paid or unpaid interns now are cutting their teeth in finance, planning and administration, where they can do meaningful work and get the training and contacts to pursue careers in the public sector.

"The millennial generation is very interested in community service," Frazell said, adding that the challenge will be to convince them they can do good in the public sector. "The interesting phenomenon is when the baby boomers start retiring and local government bodies have to start hiring people who are pretty young and without a lot of experience."

But as cities cut costs, entry-level jobs and internships have become more difficult to find.

"As with a lot of different cities, when there's no money, the intern is one of the first things to go," he said. "But what we're finding is that there are a number of college students in the job market, looking for just about anything to get their foot in the door."

One thing students are not doing, city officials say, is providing cheap labor to cover for laid-off staffers.

Waldron, who over the years has channeled dozens of interns through connections made as a professor at Metro State, Hamline and the University of Minnesota, said there's nothing like a seasoned worker.

"[Interns] help you keep your finger in the dike, but they're not replacing experienced staff," he said. "They make for a wonderful mix, to have that young, enthusiastic, tech-savvy view of the world and mix that in with the seasoned veterans."

For students, an internship can be a bridge to a better economy. Charles Roberts, who earned a master's degree in urban and regional planning at the Humphrey Center of Public Affairs in 2008, scored an internship in Arden Hills' community development department, then made the transition to an administrative internship. Last week, he began an internship in Blaine.

"I would have wished I had a full-time position, but they're few and far between now," he said. "I'll stay in Blaine awhile, and when those planning jobs begin to come available again, I'll have some experience under my belt."