Seeing a need to connect CC students with local businesses, Kyle Kihlberg ’29 and Nick Brashear ’29 created PeakAssist—a student-led program that links Colorado Springs businesses with CC students through structured marketing internships.
“The benefit to the Colorado Springs community and students at CC is at the heart of what we're building,” Kihlberg says. “PeakAssist creates a direct bridge between CC students and local businesses. We want CC to feel genuinely connected to the city around it, not just a campus that exists inside it.”
Through the platform, students get hands-on marketing experiences and local businesses get authentic, student-driven marketing.
The idea came from a gap Kihlberg and Brashear noticed: First-year students often want hands-on experience, but it’s hard to find opportunities where they can directly contribute and see immediate results. Many traditional internship pathways are geared towards juniors and seniors or run too long to manage with the Block Plan’s intensity.
PeakAssist was their solution—“a more accessible, local starting point, where students can take ownership of real marketing efforts and directly impact a business, whether that’s driving traffic, testing promotions, or engaging students on campus,” Kihlberg says. They also noticed many smaller companies “want to reach college students but don’t have the time or structure to work through more formal channels, so we’re trying to make that connection more direct and practical.”
Brashear and Kihlberg start by connecting with a local business to understand what they need from a student intern, then match them with CC students interested in marketing. Each internship roughly aligns with a CC block.
PeakAssist can help strengthen the connection between CC and the local community in a tangible way, Brashear says. “Students aren’t just working in a classroom setting—they’re actually engaging with local businesses, understanding how they operate, and contributing to their growth,” he says. “Over time, we hope this creates a stronger relationship where students are more engaged with local spots, and businesses feel more connected to campus.”
Brashear and Kihlberg focused on marketing internships specifically because it’s an area where undergraduate students can contribute immediately and businesses can quickly see clear, measurable outcomes for businesses.
They’re piloting PeakAssist with Springs coffee shop Humble Coffee, connecting them with Abigail Hill ’29 and Skye Pratt ’29, who are creating social media content, designing flyers and graphics, and promoting and planning events alongside Humble’s marketing manager.
“With how competitive the internship search has become, working with PeakAssist gave me an opportunity to connect with an internship that will help me build my resume while also gaining real-world experience,” Pratt says.
In the first week, Pratt and Hill met with one of the company’s marketing leads to sample their drinks, learn the brand and its goals, and discuss the projects they want completed.
“Abigail and I have since brainstormed several ideas, including digital marketing strategies, poster concepts, and key tasks for the upcoming week,” Pratt says. “We recently met and were able to begin turning those ideas into tangible work!”
Owner Ben Campeau said Humble Coffee decided to work with PeakAssist because Brashear and Kihlberg “are building something that actually solves a real problem for small businesses.”
“Even though we’re early in the process, it’s been great working with them so far,” he says. “They’ve been responsive, thoughtful, and genuinely interested in understanding our business.”
Campeau says understanding his business really matters, because every coffee shop operates differently.
“What we’re hoping to get out of this is simple: better efficiency, clearer insights, and ultimately a better experience for our customers,” Campeau says. “If PeakAssist can help us do that, it’s a win not just for us, but for the community we serve.”
What has stood out most since launching PeakAssist, Kihlberg and Brashear say, is the support from the CC community—especially faculty and staff.
Brashear says Collaborative for Community Engagement (CCE) and Career Center staff members offered helpful guidance and resources.
“Since starting PeakAssist, we’ve had multiple people reach out after hearing about what we’re building,” Brashear says. “That kind of response says a lot about the culture at CC. There’s a real willingness from faculty and staff to support students who are trying to build something on their own.”
Brashear says they’ve met with excitement from peers and friends and have even been able to bring some of them on as interns. “It’s made the whole process feel collaborative,” he says, “and reinforces that CC is a place where people are willing to take initiative and support each other in doing it.”
PeakAssist is moving quickly, and Kihlberg and Brashear have finalized partnerships with Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub & Restaurant and Renew Coffee Cart.
Students interested in joining PeakAssist can reach out via email or Instagram.
