Westmont Magazine Savoring a Sweet Summer Internship

Two economics and business majors compete successfully
for an internship in finance at Nestlé

Robert Fenske and Zachary Spangler will work as interns this summer for Nestle

Two Westmont students have earned prestigious, paid internships with Nestlé, one of the world’s top companies. Junior Zachary Spangler of Albuquerque, N.M., and senior Robert Fenske of Carrollton, Texas, went to Glendale, Calif., with about 30 other student finalists to interview for 10 positions nationwide. Nestlé received more than 100 applications for the internship from students at many of the nation’s top colleges and universities.

David Newton, professor of entrepreneurial finance, told Zachary and Robert about the opportunity. He encourages students in his corporate finance class to find internships that provide great experience in the field and could possibly lead to a career in finance. Zachary’s internship will be based in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Robert will go to Gaffney, S.C.

The two young men are excited to apply what they’ve learned as economics and business majors to their work for a multi-national company. They say that Nestlé has a reputation for maintaining an outstanding corporate culture. In fact, on March 22, Fortune Magazine ranked Nestlé as the 34th Most Admired Company in the World.

“I’m going to benefit from the opportunity to put my classroom studies to use, helping solve a problem that needs to be fixed,” Spangler says. “I’ll be working at one of the top corporations in the world and will learn from an incredibly successful company and its leadership.”

The students have been assigned specific projects they’ll work on for several months before presenting their findings to the Nestlé senior finance team at the end of summer. Fenske and Spangler will conduct cost analysis on products prior to production, developing programs that will improve efficiency at Nestlé’s factories.

“There are many benefits,” Fenske says, “including the prospect of a full-time position at the end of the internship, gaining practical experience and knowledge in finance, helping direct my career aspirations in finance, living in a different part of the country and representing Westmont well by doing high-quality work.”