State Affairs Intern (Utilities)

Location: Columbus, Ohio — Arena District; candidates must reside within 50 miles of the reporting location. The 12-week summer internship starts in May 2027. Travel throughout the Columbia Gas of Ohio service territory is required for events and outreach activities.

Salary: $17.20–$29.70.

Company

hirify.global is a public utility company providing essential services to customers and operating in the utilities industry.

What you will do

• Support State Affairs projects involving stakeholder engagement, community outreach, and legislative or regulatory tracking.
• Maintain stakeholder information and track engagement with community partners, elected officials, business organizations, and industry groups.
• Prepare briefing materials, summaries, talking points, meeting notes, and internal updates.
• Support meetings, events, forums, and outreach activities by coordinating logistics, agendas, follow-up notes, and action items.
• Research local government, legislative, regulatory, community, and industry topics to identify emerging issues and engagement opportunities.
• Complete a capstone project involving research, analysis, recommendations, and a final presentation or summary of findings.

Requirements

• Must be a rising junior or senior undergraduate student and reside within 50 miles of Columbus, Ohio.
• Study public affairs, political science, communications, public relations, business, public policy, government relations, or a related field.
• Demonstrate strong writing, organizational, research, and multitasking skills.
• Have intermediate skills with Microsoft Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and other Microsoft programs.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring employer sponsorship now or in the future.
• Be willing to travel throughout the Columbia Gas of Ohio service territory.

Nice to have

• Knowledge or interest in public affairs, government relations, regulatory affairs, community engagement, strategic planning, communications, or utility operations.
• Experience with data organization, event support, photography, videography, editing, or presentation development.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative team environment with opportunities to work with State Affairs leaders and cross-functional business partners.
• Professional relationship-building with interns and hirify.global personnel at all levels.
• Professional development exercises and team-building activities.
• Potential support for emergency response efforts outside normal working hours during operational events such as storm season.
• Inclusive workplace focused on respect, open dialogue, different perspectives, safety, and professional growth.