CBE Fellow, Richard (RJ) Swanson served as a 2022 finance intern at Koppers, Inc. Koppers, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals and carbon compounds. Its products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries.
How did the summer go? We asked RJ…
How did you find your summer internship experience?
RJ: I was aware of Koppers in high school when they were a sponsor for a nonprofit I was involved with, so I knew that they were a company with the right values. As I looked for job postings on LinkedIn, this made Koppers specifically stand out to me.
What are your duties and what are you learning about?
RJ: I worked in the finance department under the title, “Shared Service Intern.” I completed tasks for every position in the department, giving me a better understanding of the finance department at Koppers as a whole. Most of my work was centered around payables, receivables, and some work with the banks Koppers use.
Would you recommend this experience to other students?
RJ: Absolutely. The biggest difference with Koppers is their company culture. Koppers is consistently ranked one of the best workplaces in Pittsburgh, and Newsweek ranked Koppers as one of the most responsible companies in 2021.
RJ is a CBE Fellow and incoming President of the Wealth Management Club, planning to graduate in 2024. He is a major in Economics and minors in Communications and Political Science. He is the Delta Tau Delta Alpha Chapter Public Relations Chair and Interfraternity Council Vice President.
Studying economics at Allegheny College teaches students how people respond to incentives in making choices, and how those choices affect outcomes at both the micro and macro scale. A microeconomist might study how a firm or a family chooses to finance a new piece of equipment or a home purchase. A macroeconomist might study how a change in interest rates affects economic growth, unemployment, or the balance of trade. While economists address topics often associated with the field, like banking and finance, the range of topics studied by economists is very broad, including sports, the environment, health, crime, discrimination, and business.