Building a Future in Public Finance:

Lessons from My Internship at three+one

Christopher Coyle

As a nineteen-year-old walking into the office for the first time, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous on my first day of work. With new faces, new surroundings, and new lingo to learn, I was in an environment in which I had no prior experience. While some might have had difficulty adjusting to this situation, the team at three+one welcomed me and I felt comfortable from day one.  

Throughout the summer, I was given the opportunity to grow as both a student and a future professional, learning many important skills along the way. I was assigned various projects which provided my first exposure to the dynamic world of Financial Technology (FinTech) and Government Technology (GovTech). Gaining on-the-job knowledge, and understanding the needs of an overlooked area of the financial world, were both equally rewarding. Far too often, a college curriculum does an insufficient job of demonstrating the opportunities one can have with a career in public finance and local government. With this fresh perspective, I look forward to future conversations about my experience working for a business that serves the public sector and encouraging others to explore this fulfilling career field.

Along with expanding my knowledge of public finance, the projects I worked on allowed me to work with many different team members, with wide areas of expertise. I was able to sit in on the data team meetings, witnessing how they analyzed client data, and continually developed new ways to provide added value to their customers. I was also able to observe the daily operations of the relationship-management team and saw how they interacted with clients and one another, finding solutions to issues and understanding that each public entity is unique. Through conversations with our business-development officers and marketing team members I learned how they promoted the benefits of cashVest (the key three+one liquidity-management product). On top of all that, I was able to take part in an executive meeting to present one of my projects and observed how the leadership team approached the analysis and decision-making process.

Thanks to all these interactions, I’ve come up with a set of values that three+one stands represents to me. Let me share those with you. 

Innovation

Over a decade ago, Joe Rulison and Peter Forsgren realized that the nation’s public entities and higher Ed institutions could greatly benefit from data-driven answers to their liquidity and cash-management problems. With the team at three+one, they’ve developed several innovative FinTech solutions. Over this summer, I have witnessed the constant communication between client-facing team members and the data team to make the “magic” of darta analysis happen, and find new and better ways to serve three+one’s clients.

Empathy

There is a reason three+one was created by public officials for public officials. They understand a public entity’s problems. When you look at the team’s makeup you will see decades of experience within the public sector. They care about the well-being and the positive relationships they build with entities of all types and sizes. Countless times this summer I have witnessed team members excited to see a client make an improvement, or call and check on them, offering assistance in times of need. I’ve found these personal, heartfelt relationships that three+one has fostered with their existing and prospective clients to be truly commendable. 

Trust

Proven data-driven results are crucial in establishing confidence in an innovative product like cashVest. The three+one team puts their clients’ best interests first by guiding them through the data-analysis process and checking in with them frequently along the way. By producing the supportive data,  the team ensures public entities  can be confident in their liquidity and cash-management decision-making. There are over 2.5 billion reasons to work with three+one—those are the dollars that cashVest has helped them give back to the communities they serve.

I believe you would be hard pressed to find a company that truly demonstrates innovation, empathy, and trust better than three+one does. I cannot say enough about how thankful I am for having had the opportunity to intern here over the past couple of months. The people and the purpose that they serve are inspiring and I am delighted to have been a part of the team.