Interns are swarming downtown Detroit on a daily basis this summer.
According to Michael Martinez in The Detroit News, the number of interns downtown has grown from a few hundred five years ago to thousands today, and the vibrancy is enhanced by the multitude of companies, such as Title Source and Quicken Loans Inc., that have relocated to Detroit’s central business district from the suburbs.
“We have just as much to showcase in Detroit,” said Kerry Doman, founder and CEO of the After 5 Intern Program, which hosts get-togethers for the temporary workers throughout the summer. “It’s the people that make Detroit just as much of a place to be.”
Companies such as General Motors Co. (50 interns), DTE Energy (250 interns) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (242 interns) are some of the biggest players in terms of hiring for summer help.
DTE and GM spokespeople said they have the same number of interns working downtown as last year; BCBSM has added nearly 100 interns since 2011.
A host of smaller companies is also adding interns.
But the biggest numbers by far come from Detroit-based home lender Quicken Loans.
Founder and chairman Dan Gilbert said the company is employing 1,175 interns this summer from 157 colleges and universities across the country. In 2011, the company had only 250 interns.
This year, Gilbert said Quicken got more than 18,500 applications.
