Grow Wabash County Welcomes Wabash High School Intern, Makenna Bechtold

Wabash County, IN (August 26, 2026) – Grow Wabash County is adding a Wabash High School student to its team and is happy to welcome Makenna Bechtold as the organization’s intern for Fall 2026.

Makenna Bechtold is a senior at Wabash High School. She is an active member of the choir and theatre programs at school, dating back to the 6th-grade choir. She is a member of several other clubs and organizations at school, including the National Honor Society and Key Club. Makenna is also a budding entrepreneur, working on a start-up she created with a friend for their Principles of Business class, which they have already pitched to a group of local entrepreneurs.

“We are excited to welcome Makenna to the Grow Wabash County team this fall,” said Tenille Zartman, President & CEO of Grow Wabash County. “Internships like this provide meaningful, hands-on experiences that help students build skills while also adding value to our organization and community. We are grateful to the educational partners around the county for offering internship programs for their students. These programs create more opportunities for students to gain experience locally and show them the value of living and working in Wabash County for years to come.”

After high school, Makenna plans to attend college to major in Technical Engineering and minor in Marketing. With that, she hopes to find an entry-level engineering job and eventually work her way up to a Technical Engineer role.

During her fall internship with Grow Wabash County, Makenna hopes to broaden her horizons by gaining knowledge and hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and marketing.

Grow Wabash County believes that internships are a valuable investment in the community's future. By providing students with hands-on experience and meaningful connections to local employers, internships help build a pipeline of skilled talent and demonstrate the rewarding career opportunities available right here in Wabash County.

Local businesses interested in hiring interns can contact the following internship coordinators:

•  Manchester University: Tish Kalita 260-982-5025 lnkalita@manchester.edu 
• Heartland Career Center: Randa Heckathorn 260-563-7481 rheckathorn@hcc.k12.in.us OR Brian Evans 260-563-7481 bevans@staff.hcc.k12.in.us (Manufacturing ONLY) 
• Northfield & Southwood High School: Payton Deeter 260-571-4407 deeterp@msdwc.k12.in.us 
• Manchester Jr-Senior High School: Philip Butler philip_butler@mcs.k12.in.us 
• Wabash City Schools: Whitney Myers 260-563-2151 myersw@apaches.k12.in.us  

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About Grow Wabash County

Grow Wabash County (legal name Wabash County Business Alliance Inc.) is a not-for-profit corporation that spearheads economic and community development efforts in Wabash County, Indiana. GWC is designed around five pillars of service: assisting business development needs, promoting livability, fostering entrepreneurship, supporting workforce development, and offering programming and investor services. GWC was formed with the merger of the EDG of Wabash County and Wabash County Chamber of Commerce in July 2017. For more information about GWC, please visit www.growwabashcounty.com or call 260.563.5258.