Investing in the Future
Scholarship program puts students on capitol hill

By Fran Howard

The Washington Connection: When U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., approached Bob Dinneen, executive director of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), two years ago to set up an internship program for University of Minnesota students with the House Agriculture Committee, Dinneen jumped at the opportunity. After all, his Washington-based asso-ciation’s main goal is to promote the use of ethanol as a renewable fuel and Minnesota is the epicenter of the ethanol industry.

Bob Dinneen

The Agricultural and Renewable Fuels Policy Congressional Internship Program, now in its second year, is a joint effort of CFANS, Peterson’s office, and the Renewable Fuels Association. Upper-level CFANS students who are residents of Minnesota qualify for the internship based on GPA, work experience and interests.

“It’s an opportunity for students to gain an appreciation for how Washington works and to learn how their senators and representatives are working to represent their interests,” says Dinneen. RFA’s role is mostly financial, Dinneen says, but the organization also hosts the interns for a day to learn about their aspirations and to inform them about RFA’s lobbying role on Capitol Hill. RFA’s annual support of the program is about $15,000 and helps the interns defray living expenses. This spring’s intern is Lucas Sjostrom, a sophomore agricultural education major from Lafayette, Minn.

“It’s rewarding to see young people filled with enthusiasm,” Dinneen adds.“And it’s refreshing to see the quality of young people the university is putting out these days.” When he was younger, Dinneen completed a Capitol Hill internship for a U.S. representative from New Jersey, but he says his experience did not have the substance of the renewable fuels internship. “The committee is making more of an effort to involve interns in policy evaluations, research and assessment of legislation,” Dinneen notes. “It’s a much more intense and meaningful experience."         

Dinneen has headed up RFA for the bulk of the organization’s life-span. “I found out about the job from a buddy who was working with the National Corn Growers Association,” Dinneen recalls. “He says he didn’t know how long (ethanol and thus RFA) would last, but that at least we would have fun working together. That was 20 years ago.”