Building Opportunity for the Next Generation
One initiative that is extremely important for businesses to participate in achieving community growth is the effort made to create on ramps for our next generation of employees. Companies need to create a workforce funnel to develop, attract and retain future applicants while continuing to grow innovatively and adjusting to the challenging fight for talent. Internship programs or workplace trainings allow companies to invest in themselves by developing an internship that educates our future workforce in the skills they will need for their fields of expertise.
Why are Internships so Important?
Internships are extremely important to our County in the fight to keep our youth local. They create beneficial relationships between business and talent that encourage both economic and personal growth. Interns can bring innovative ideas and diversity to a business while employers can provide employees with leadership and managerial experience. Such symbiotic relationships allow for interns to become immersed in real-world experiences and develop their skills in a preferred trade. Companies are then able to test out potential employees and create a strong and steady talent pipeline. However, like any relationship, commitment and investment must come from both sides. An intern invests their time, talents, and fresh perspectives in companies that allow them to do meaningful work that garners physical and analytical results. Companies must then invest in the intern through training, professional development, and ideally some form of compensation. Companies that can pay or provide stipends to interns tend to invest more time in their training and understanding in how their interns work within the company professionally and socially.
What can Coos Businesses Do?
Did you know the State of New Hampshire Department of Education (DOE) offers businesses both tax credits and/or wage match options when you support a student intern, apprentice and trainees? This includes both CTE programs and non-CTE opportunities. Later this summer, we will be putting together a workshop session to learn more about these benefits in partnership with the DOE for any interested business. Stay Tuned!
We would like to know which businesses already have active internship programs or would like us to work with their Human Resource departments to help create or connect them with interested students. Next, we will work with schools like White Mountain High School to try to match students with businesses that are willing to participate. This will provide us the opportunity to highlight County business efforts in an Internship Spotlight Series demonstrating the need and benefits of companies who pursue robust internship programs. Down the road, we hope to develop a Coos Young Professionals group to continue to support them in a peer-to-peer environment in their career growth.
The CEDC stands firmly behind the idea of helping small businesses attract, develop, and retain the young talent of the North Country. We do offer workplace training grants for small businesses, thanks to the ongoing support of the USDA Rural Program. These grants can help offset training needs for both new and existing employees to help build ongoing business success.
Please contact execdirector@coosedc.org if you know of a high school or college student interested in an internship, have a business that has an intern program and would like to participate, or would like a grant application for workforce training.