Nebraska Internship Program

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

Today, I am providing you with information on another program from the Talent and Innovation Initiative. The Nebraska Internship Program (InternNE) is an important component of Nebraska's strategic economic plan and is designed to enhance technology and innovation, and assure a technology-focused workforce for Nebraska companies.

With this initiative, Nebraska has one of the strongest public policy strategies in place to advance business recruitment and development. InternNE is a win-win for students seeking valuable business experience to further shape their future careers and to keep our youth in Nebraska. It's critical for business owners who are focused on developing a quality workforce to meet the demands of our vastly changing global economy.

The Nebraska Internship Program creates new internship opportunities for 500 to 750 college and university students to gain job experience by working with companies across the state. This program went into effect on June 1.

Nebraska is the only state in the nation with a program like this. By partnering with Nebraska businesses, we want to connect students with opportunities to gain work experience, particularly in high-skill sectors, to help retain more students after graduation. So far, 74 companies have been approved to offer a total of 238 new internships. Thirty qualified businesses are in rural Nebraska and 44 businesses are in urban areas of our state.

InternNE is funded with $1.5 million a year of redirected job training funds. Awards are made to a diverse group of businesses who create new internships and are matched 100% from the companies. Internships provide job experience for juniors and seniors at the state's four-year institutions or students in their second year at a Nebraska community college. A total $1,058,000 of the original $1.5 million appropriation has already been allocated for the program. The good news to students is that these are paid internships with an average wage of $11.60 per hour.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development is partnering with the Nebraska Department of Labor to administer the program. They look for quality student workers who wish to pair course work with companies seeking interns.

I encourage businesses and students to check out the Intern Nebraska program and learn more about what it has to offer. For more information on InternNE, contact Allison Hatch at (402) 471-3369 or allison.hatch@nebraska.gov or go online at www.InternNE.com.