State and Federal Communications was pleased to welcome Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan as he shared career advice and his goals for the city of Akron with the interns and employees.

“I want to start from the core up and bring people into Akron,” Mayor Horrigan said. “Downtown Akron is a huge focus for the growth of the city because of the amount of traffic that it brings in.”

More than 60,000 people move throughout downtown Akron on a daily basis and Mayor Horrigan addressed what’s next after the city’s Innerbelt highway (State Route 59) closes, how to make traffic run smoothly, and issues concerning the city’s combined sewer flow problem.

“I am concentrating on giving quality customer service to the Akron community and giving them a transparent and open-government,” Horrigan said. “We’ll have over 30 acres of land to use after the Innerbelt is closed and we are constantly considering ways to fill the space.”

State and Federal Communication’s eight summer interns attend either Kent State University or The University of Akron and Mayor Horrigan earned degrees from both universities.

“When I talk to interns, I always let them know that what you are striving for is hard work,” Mayor Horrigan said. “You will have to learn from the ground up because you don’t just fall into an amazing position.”

IT intern, Chris Jackson 24, has lived in Akron all of his life and jumped on the opportunity to suggest ways that Mayor Horrigan could fill space in downtown Akron.

“There is little to no place for teens to go and have fun in downtown Akron,” Jackson said. “I’m a gamer and arcades are coming back into style and could be a great thing for the city of Akron.”

Among other suggestions the interns and employees offered were to have food trucks throughout the city, especially near Summit St. and more art work in downtown Akron.

One thing marketing intern Clémence Besnard took away during Mayor Horrigan’s conversation was his views on success.

“I liked when he suggested that we take responsibility for the decisions we’ve made and being able to sleep peacefully with those decisions is what’s important,” Besnard said. “The mayor also let us know that it is okay to pat yourself on the back and celebrate the good you’ve done when talking about success.”