Ohio State students gain work experience in global export industry

The Ohio State University Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), located within Fisher College of Business, and the Ohio Department of Development hosted a ceremony last week to recognize students from Ohio State and other colleges statewide who gained work experience through the 2025 Ohio Export Internship Program. The ceremony was held at the Fawcett Center on Ohio State’s Columbus campus.

Administered by the Ohio Department of Development, the program is designed to help the state’s small and medium-sized businesses improve their export initiatives by matching them with students who have taken export-focused coursework at Ohio colleges, Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, former head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, said in his keynote address.  

“If it weren’t for our partnerships with business and industry, there is no way we could continue to grow and to become huge for the state of Ohio, huge for this country and all over the world,” he said.

Tressel thanked all of the host companies “for taking the time and for mentoring and giving opportunities for our students to take on responsibility, real responsibility that’s going to make a difference in your bottom line, we can’t thank you enough.”

Businesses across Ohio that hosted student interns from Ohio State and other colleges are key drivers of the state’s economy, said Kim Roseler, program manager for Ohio State’s National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) at Fisher. 

“These brands are the backbone of our community. They are a critical part of our supply chain, generating more than $10 trillion in annual revenue,” she said. “They represent one third of our private sector, GDP [gross domestic product] and employment. … If these middle-market companies became their own separate country, they’d be the fifth largest in the world.”

The Ohio Export Internship Program enables students to gain experience and explore career paths in the industry, said Don Hackney, Ohio University export assistance network adviser. 

“Each of these institutions has played a vital role in preparing students to take on real world challenges of international trade,” he said.  

“And of course, at the heart of this program are the Ohio businesses – small and medium-sized enterprises that have the foresight to welcome these students into their export initiatives. These companies are doing more than growing their businesses. They’re strengthening Ohio’s position on the global stage and investing in the future workforce of our state.”

Ohio State students and host companies who were recognized at the ceremony for completing the 2025 Ohio Export Internship Program were:

Emily Gu – Global Recovery Group

Harry Wu – Star USA Inc.

Katrina Whitmore – Stewart Glapat Corp.

Wenhui Yan – Tech International

William Colella – Daavlin

Xin Lin – Expeditors International

In addition to Ohio State, the other Ohio colleges that were recognized during the event were: Bowling Green State University’s Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, Cleveland State University’s Monte Ahuja College of Business, Ohio University’s College of Business, the University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration, and Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration.

For more information about the Ohio Export Internship Program, visit the program’s website.