Student internship opportunities often provide benefits to the intern, the organization and the wider community. That was the experience of business administration major Gracey Trabold for her internship with the North Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC). 

The North Central Small Business Development Center provides business advisement to businesses across the Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Jefferson, Lewis, Onondaga, Oswego and Seneca counties. According to their website, they hold a combined “200 years of collective business and business advisement experience,” and provide “customized solutions through advisement, education, research and advocacy.”

Trabold came to SUNY Oswego as a transfer from Onondaga Community College, a route that provided many opportunities and avenues toward success.

Trabold’s internship was made possible through SUNY Oswego’s Offices of Experiential Learning and SUNY Oswego Office of Workforce Innovation and External Relations (OWIER). During the internship, she worked with multiple clients on marketing projects. “I helped research target markets and SEO [search engine optimization], contributed to social media strategies and supported the development of marketing plans tailored to each client's goals and resources,” she said. 

Her time in SUNY Oswego’s business administration program provided her with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed during her experience with the SBDC. “My courses definitely gave me a strong foundation in marketing principles, business communication and strategic thinking,” Trabold said. “Group projects especially helped because I realized that they mirrored the collaboration I experienced during my internship.”

She was drawn to SUNY Oswego’s College of Business and Entrepreneurship because of its hands-on nature. 

“The opportunities to work with real businesses, collaborate on projects and gain internship experience within the school made me feel like I am getting the most out of my years,” Trabold said. “The College of Business and Entrepreneurship is always adapting and just recently added the digital marketing minor. I was able to add this minor for my second semester, and I'm really excited to dive into it.”

Trabold chose business administration as her major at Oswego because it allowed her to explore a wide range of business areas. “It gave me exposure to marketing, management, operations, finance and accounting, which helped to understand how all parts of a business work together,” said Trabold. 

Her alma mater of OCC celebrated the success of Trabold’s internship, the partnerships and its impact on the community. Kellie Greene, a senior business advisor with the SBDC, worked closely with Trabold and explained in an article how much she enjoyed the collaboration.

"Gracey is great,” Greene said. “She's super smart. She's very detailed. I have been blessed to work with some great interns from SUNY Oswego.” 

Trabold is currently doing a marketing internship at Morse Manufacturing in Syracuse. “I am extremely excited for this opportunity, and I believe the skills I've gained in my courses and my past internship at the NYSBDC have set me up for this,” Trabold said. 

A tight relationship between OCC and SUNY Oswego makes these paid internship opportunities available, supported by the SUNY Oswego Impact Internship Fund.

Greene described the partnership and paid internship program as benefitting students, employers and the local business community. 

“I love working with the students,” Greene said. “Practical application is extremely valuable. Experiences like this help students discover what they want to do and give them real-world tools and insight. Gracey now has something meaningful for her résumé that will help launch her career.”

–- Written by Nina Ottesen of the Class of 2026