Hastings College junior business administration major Lily Teeple is fostering a sense of belonging within the community through her work with the City of Hastings Development Services Department, which provides planning and zoning, plan reviews, permitting and other services to community members, builders and contractors in Hastings. For her internship, Teeple has focused primarily on city planning, which she said supports her desire to explore a future career in community development.
Her pursuit of community change and growth began as part of her experience with the Scott Scholars program her first and second years at Hastings College. As part of the program, students travel to different communities in Nebraska during the school year and observe how communities are investing in themselves. These experiences motivated Teeple to explore ways she could help to create change in Hastings.
“I grew a fondness for community development and encouraging growth in any way I can, so the passion grew from there,“ said Teeple, who’s from Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
She asked Dave Rippe, director of the Hastings College Scott Scholars program, about a summer position focused on community development. He recommended she apply for an internship with the City of Hastings. Teeple built her resume with the help of the Career Services office on campus, secured an interview and was later offered the Development Services internship position.
“Dave thought I would be a great fit for the internship given my community involvement with the Scott Scholars program,” she said.
For the city, Teeple is involved in multiple projects, some of which are collaborative, and others that she works on independently, including providing input from a student perspective of a proposed effort for Hastings to become a Nebraska Arts Council certified Creative District.
“I have the opportunity to contribute to the Heartbeat Creative District project, which designates areas as cultural and economic hubs where innovation thrives and communities unite through art,” she said. “These creative districts impact the economy by establishing purposeful spaces such as art galleries, theaters and music venues, which will attract both employees and businesses. The project is supported by grants that will fund specific initiatives and promote the arts as an economic motivator. While the process is ongoing, we expect to submit our proposal in October.”
She has also worked on a zoning project, handling a variance request for a client’s garage. Although there are many different types of variances, this one in particular is the process of granting special permission to build the garage outside of standard zoning regulations. She then has to present findings to the Board of Adjustments and recommend approval or denial of the variance.
“This is my first personal project to oversee, so it’s challenging to ensure everything complies with regulations. However, the reward is seeing a project I worked on independently come to completion, and presenting my findings to the board will be satisfying,” Teeple said.
Teeple said skills she learned through Hastings College courses have connected directly to her internship. For example, lessons from adjunct business administration professor Luke Mahoney’s courses helped her communicate with her clients. Economics professor Dr. Amy Black ‘90 encouraged her to look further into career options that a business administration degree provides, including how you can work with clients on zoning issues, from start to finish with zoning projects.
Teeple said she is thankful for everything she’s learned as a planning intern with the City of Hastings. She said she gained new confidence in her abilities, is more willing to take a chance and is eager to meet successful people in the community.
