Impact Consulting Fellowship
Work with private equity company Cranbrook Partners & Co. to identify and analyze current and future business opportunities for its portfolio company, FireCATT
Applications will open for the 2026-2027 academic year soon
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The Opportunity
FireCATT is seeking support in three main growth areas:
Understanding market opportunities beyond fire departments
Reviewing and enhancing existing pipeline for fire departments
Diagnosing and executing opportunities to make monthly reporting process & deliverables more efficient across the business.
Impact
FireCATT is already helping firefighters stay safe by preventing injuries during fire fighting incidents and during testing itself where injuries can be significant if a hose fails; the opportunity is to help FireCATT bring its services to more departments around the country and expand beyond fire departments to all entities that have on-site hoses for fighting potential fires and keeping people safe.
About Cranbrook Partners & Co.
Cranbrook Partners is a private equity company that creates value through active ownership of businesses. The firm employs creative management practices, with a focus on productivity gains, growth, impact and disciplined analysis as key drivers for value creation. One of the companies in Cranbrook Partner’s portfolio is FireCATT, one of the largest, most accurate, and essential fire hose and equipment testing businesses with ~2,500 customers in the U.S.
Activities
Build a detailed market diagnostic and go-to-market plan for future “non-fire” customer segments.
Gather technical, operational, and market data to validate the business case.
Engage with potential customers to test market interest and refine the value proposition.
Perform a competitive analysis across all of FireCATT’s current and future market segments.
Use AI tools to analyze external market and internal business data to prepare actionable insights and recommendations for a business.
Identify and execute opportunities to improve efficiency in FireCATT’s existing monthly reporting process and deliverables.
Final deliverables:
A market diagnostic for “non-fire” customer segments, pipeline review for “fire” and pipeline development for “non-fire” segments, competitive assessments for all segments, monthly reporting metrics and KPIs refresh, and AI opportunities report.
$500 stipend
Troy, Michigan HQ meetings (paid travel)
Open to All Disciplines at the Undergraduate and Graduate Levels
OCTOBER 2026 - MARCH 2027
Cranbrook Partners is seeking an interdisciplinary team of 3 to 4 students. Examples of possible profiles:
A School of Information student with skills in using AI tools to analyze external market and internal business data and generate insights
A BBA/MBA student skilled in market analysis, competitive assessments, strategy consulting and/or presentations
An LSA student strong in small business strategy and go-to-market projects
Key Qualifications & Expectations
Students should be motivated by hands-on, real-world experience working closely with a private equity firm and making a tangible impact.
Prior experience in teamwork, project management, or technical areas relevant to the project (business planning, financial modeling, data analysis, research) will be valuable.
The ability to dedicate 5–10 hours per week during the semester, attend Friday coworking sessions at the Ross Impact Studio from 9:00am-12:00pm, participate in regular meetings, and possibly engage in some travel.
Applications will open for the 2026-2027 academic year soon.
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Questions? Email impactstudio@umich.edu