BLADE - First Year Recap

May 25, 2023

With the close of the 2022 - 2023 academic year, The Lab Depot has successfully completed its first year of the BLADE program in partnership with the University of North Georgia.

TLD created the Business Leadership Apprenticeship Development Experience (BLADE) in association with UNG’s College of Science & Mathematics to offer STEM students the opportunity to learn the business of science in an e-commerce environment. Four students spent time in the TLD offices over the course of the academic year, learning the role of each department and how they collaborate in creating the success of the whole business.

Participants met with management in operations, sales, customer service, marketing, shipping and receiving, accounting, and purchasing, spending up to an hour in each department. A mock interview and reviews of resume and LinkedIn profiles are also included in the experience.

While business students receive preparation and training immersed in business settings, many STEM students focus more on their academic studies in a laboratory environment as the eventual destination for their work life. The Lab Depot is uniquely positioned to help STEM students receive business education training in a laboratory science-based business, expanding the value and possibility of a STEM degree beyond previously conceived limitations. BLADE hopes to fill the gaps in knowledge for STEM students to realize the full potential of their degrees, whether they work in a laboratory or in a science-based business.

Participant Nick Stoltz offered the following assessment of the program, “This experience has reinforced my appreciation for the process of how lab equipment is distributed and utilized throughout the industry. I am also able to put the faces of real people in my mind for each step of the distribution from vendor all the way to the customer. My career post-graduation holds steady, but I now know I will always have options in the large world of science.”

TLD and UNG’s CSM anticipate another great year of partnership in 2023 - 2024. BLADE will recommence in September of 2023 for the academic year.

For questions about the BLADE program or internship inquiries, contact Susan Csomor at [email protected].

Author(s): Susan Csomor