STEM at State Farm with Kevin Reeves
On episode #51 of the Building BN podcast, BNEDC CEO Patrick Hoban and Community Marketing Manager, Whitney Chesher sit down to speak with Kevin Reeves, Enterprise Technology Manager - STEM/Intern Programs at State Farm. Reeves has been with State Farm, in various roles, for over 30 years. He is an alumnus of Ball State University, earning a BS in Marketing/Marketing Management. His current role at State Farm focuses on developing and retaining talent in the Bloomington-Normal community through high school STEM internship programs.
Since its inception, the program has seen success. Reeves explains, “ [The program] started to build this true pipeline of students that said, gosh, you know what? I do want to get into computer science and computer engineering. We have teachers that want to teach this now. We've got mentors in the classroom, literally on a daily basis, helping students and building projects. And it's literally now been seven years since this program really took off. And we are in seven different school districts here in McLean County. We are also proud that we work very closely with Heartland Community College, Illinois Wesleyan, and Illinois State, bridging where these kids come from high school to college. And now all of a sudden, the students are no longer going out of state. They're staying here to get their education, and then they become interns of ours. So now we have them for a couple of years while they're in high school and also in college. And then you build that rapport and that relationship with these students. When it's time to extend full-time offers, there's that loyalty factor. [The students think], State Farm has been taking care of me for the last three or four years as an intern. I've learned a lot. They've offered me a job. I'm going to take it.”
Students that participate in this program from the beginning of high school can earn an Associate Degree from Heartland Community College at the same time they are earning their high school diploma. Reeves explains, “By the time they graduate from high school, they have their high school diploma and an associate degree in computer science.” Students are also able to begin working as interns once they are 16 years old.
The STEM/Intern program has recently been implemented in locations outside of Bloomington-Normal, according to Reeves. These are areas that also have State Farm hubs, including Atlanta, Georgia, Dallas, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. Reeves explains that these programs focus more on potential employees that desire a more “metropolitan area” than Bloomington-Normal may be considered.
Listen to the entire conversation with State Farm’s Kevin Reeves—which includes more insight and information about STEM at State Farm as well as Reeves’s perfect day in Bloomington-Normal—here.
