When NIU marketing junior Carson Olofson came across an IGNITE! internship opportunity with DeKalb’s own SunDog IT, he jumped at the chance to work with a local business. IGNITE! is an experiential learning partnership between the College of Business and the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation that allows local businesses and organizations to hire top NIU College of Business students like Olofson for paid internships, which are subsidized by the college.
“I read the job description and saw that it focused on branding design and digital marketing. I knew it was the perfect role for me to get experience in marketing,” he said.
SunDog grew out of a startup known as TBC, founded in 1989 and which, in 1995, became the first commercially available internet service provider in DeKalb County. By 2012, TBC retooled itself to compete in the managed IT services market and with that move rebranded the company’s name to SunDog IT. A business strongly rooted in the DeKalb community, the company’s offices are located on Lincoln Highway, the main road through the city of DeKalb. The city’s Mayor Cohen Barnes, an NIU alumnus, serves as SunDog CEO.
“We moved in before DeKalb’s downtown development began in earnest, because we wanted our money to reflect our values. This is our backyard, and we want the town to be as nice as possible,” explains Dale Boughton, SunDog’s service manager.
Having worked in an IGNITE! internship position before, the idea of gaining more real-world experience was exciting for Olofson. At the start of the fall 2021 semester, the Rockford, Illinois native jumped headlong into the position serving as the company’s digital marketing intern. For standout students like him, the IGNITE! program provides a wealth of firsthand experience that reinforces and supplements classroom-based learning.
“There have been times when I’ve told a professor that in my internship I’m doing what we’ve been learning in class,” said Olofson. “It’s really cool to get information in book form, and then see it happen in front of my eyes as well.”
Olofson’s work with SunDog leans heavily on his past marketing and design experience. His activities to date include crafting company mailers, designing web banner ads and even working with the company mascot.
“I’ve had the opportunity to design branded seasonal costumes for our mascot, Sunny,” he said. “I’ve made a few outfits for Sunny for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Impressed by Olofson’s skills, Boughton said, “Carson’s been great. We hosted a cybersecurity summit that he was a big part of putting together. He was very professional and presented well. He’s been a natural fit at SunDog.”
Olofson’s efforts were further validated when he was named the David and Diane Graf IGNITE! Fellow, with his internship made possible thanks to the generous donation of the Graf family in their support of experiential learning.
The Graf family roots with NIU run deep and include several faculty leadership roles in the College of Business. In 1986, David Graf served as chair of the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems (OM&IS) until his appointment as associate dean of the college in 1993. Within a year, he was appointed dean and served in that capacity from 1994 until his retirement in 2005. Under his leadership, the college launched strategic planning activities (ongoing for more than 25 years), which resulted in several innovative programs as well as the creation of the college’s world class facility Barsema Hall, named after alumni and investors Dennis and Stacey Barsema. Diane Graf’s faculty tenure with the college began in the Department of Business Education and Administrative Services. By the 1980s, the department faculty completely transformed its direction and curriculum to focus on the then-emerging business technology age; the department ultimately became the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems. Diane then served as a visiting assistant professor in the OM&IS department.
“Dean Graf laid the foundation for the tremendous experiential opportunities our students have today. The Experiential Learning Center, launched under Dean Graf, has inspired and informed so many of our later experiential learning programs — Business in Action, IGNITE!, and MBA capstone projects, among others. He and Diane continue to inspire our NIU Business community with their support of Carson through the IGNITE! program,” said Balaji Rajagopalan, dean of the NIU College of Business.
“As contributors to the IGNITE! program, we are very pleased to continue supporting the College of Business and its students at Northern Illinois University. A company’s internship project is a perfect fit with our belief that classroom learning partnered with on-the-job mentorship is an excellent way to reinforce learning,” David and Diane Graf said. “We are happy to support experiences like Carson’s internship at SunDog IT. Our reward is the success students gain from ‘hands-on learning’ made all the stronger by the guidance they receive from College of Business faculty and business representatives.”
“I cannot adequately express how thankful I am to David and Diane Graf for their generosity and selfless contribution to the IGNITE! program. The experience has greatly enhanced my education and personal growth,” said Olofson. “Their help allowed me to take advantage of opportunities and to see new possibilities that I didn’t think were imaginable before.”
by Sam Serpe, journalism ’20, 2L NIU Law, digital marketing graduate assistant for the College of Business Impact Lab. Editorial oversight Michelle De Jean, director of marketing NIU College of Business, and Michael Mackey, editor-in-chief NIU Clearinghouse.
