In an effort to attract and retain Millennials—young professionals ages 25 to 34—to the region to increase the percentage of people in the region who have a four-year college degree, the West Michigan Strategic Alliance has begun development of the West Michigan Regional Internship Portal as part of the West Michigan Internship Initiative.
The goal is to use the portal to connect 3,000 Millennials with regional internship opportunities by 2011, which could be one of the best methods for retaining and expanding the region’s base of knowledge workers.
The collaborative effort enables colleges to match students to internship opportunities in West Michigan. The web portal will be available by the end of 2008 and will benefit employers, students and college career offices.
To move the process forward, WMSA hired Cindy Brown as project manager. Brown has over 20 years of experience in employee development and coaching, recruiting, sales and brand management, and training.
In her most recent position with Enterprise Rent-A-Car she developed and implemented a summer internship program and oversaw the recruitment of college student interns. She serves on the boards of the West Michigan’s Top 100 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and the Grand Rapids Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Cancer Institute. Brown has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Aquinas College.
Source: West Michigan Strategic Alliance
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Internship portal aims to place 3,000 young professionals in 3 years
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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