Finance major aids Children's Museum of Bloomsburg

Needing an intern to conduct a study about a possible expansion of the Children’s Museum of Bloomsburg, Ginny Weibel, executive director, reached out to Bloomsburg University's Zeigler College of Business for help. Weibel did not expect the remarkable efforts and work that Bryan Raynor would provide for them.  

Raynor, a senior finance major from Gilbertsville, focused his internship on studying the most efficient way to expand the organization.   

Weibel has had a passion for the Children’s Museum since she moved to the area ten years ago and realized how important the museum is to the children and her community, therefore expansion is crucial, “The museum is at a point where demand for our programs and exhibits is outpacing our ability to host them due to space constraints. "Expanding introduces some risk to our future; for a small nonprofit like the museum, this is not an easy decision. We wanted to be sure that expanding our space would result in enough revenue to sustain the space.” 

Weibel reached out to Mary Howe, director of the Zeigler Institute for Professional Development, to select an intern to help conduct a study.  

“Mary got me in contact with assistant professor Cassandra Bennett, who recommended Bryan,” said Weibel. “We asked Bryan to do an economic feasibility study to determine if expansion is in our best interest and if the added space would serve the community better. The spreadsheet Bryan developed gave us a clear vision of adding space cost/benefit ratio. This tool is invaluable to us as we look to the future.” 

For Raynor, not only did he complete an academic requirement, he gave back to the community at the same time.  

“My goal during the internship was to help them estimate future revenues and expenses concerning their expansion plans,” said Raynor. “Most of my time was spent creating projections for how much money the museum could earn from activities that could be established or expanded with additional space. This was done to show that expanding the museum’s facilities would be such a positive endeavor for the facility to undertake.” 

“I thoroughly enjoyed helping the Children’s Museum,” he continued. “I was glad to know that my efforts were useful in helping a local nonprofit institution expand for the community. Many of my friends from the local area recalled good memories of the time spent at the Children’s Museum during their childhood. The thought of being able to help the museum provide the next generation of children with similar memories has made me happily reflect on the time I spent with the staff there. I greatly appreciate the opportunity the museum afforded me by extending this internship to me.” 

With the help of Dr. Bennett and Raynor, the museum can now envision the future of its expansion.  

“Any revenue we generate goes right back into providing services to our community,” said Weibel “We could never hire a firm to perform such a study, nor do we have the expertise to run one ourselves. The study was a critical component to move forward with expansion plans. We would not have been able to do this without the help of Bryan, Dr. Bennett, and the Zeigler College of Business.”  

Raynor will graduate this fall and is hopeful of staying in the Bloomsburg area and working as an accountant. His future plans are to move to a metropolitan area and work in investment management.