With the economy down and unemployment up, small businesses are really suffering. One way we have kept moving forward is by taking advantage of opportunities to host interns. Through the years we have taken on a number of interns. Our first group of “kids” was from Millikan High School. They were such go-getters that we had a heck of a time keeping up with them. A couple of the girls, Sabrina and Crystal, stayed with us for more than a year writing press releases, helping around the office and taking part in local affairs.
Years later, we had interns from the now-defunct Brooks College helping out in our graphic arts department. One of those young ladies, Leighanna Nierle, now works for us full time as our advertising designer. She is an amazing person. Although VERY young, her design ability is phenomenal and her willingness to listen and create effective ads is one of our biggest assets here at the paper.
Our newest intern is Steven Piper. He came to us from Long Beach City College where he recently studied journalism and worked as the editor in chief of his school paper The Viking. He is a young man dedicated to the field of journalism. We enjoy his enthusiasm and can-do attitude and are thrilled that he also loves taking photos for his stories— which are often printed on the front page.
Taking on interns as free or low-cost labor is more than just help with a small company’s budget. It can also be quite fulfilling knowing you have helped a young person learn about the business world.
If you have need of an intern or know someone who does, consider hiring one through www.hireyouth.com or their parent agency Pacific Gateway. For details about these programs read the press release below!
Here is a great opportunity that we thought you should know about. The Recovery Act is paying the salaries of more than 1,000 local youth to work for you in your business for the months of July and August. Read further about the program and apply now to have them work for you. Thanks to funding through the Recovery Act 2009, more than 1,200 youth in the Long Beach, Torrance, Lomita, and Signal Hill area are ready to go to work this summer. They could be working for you at no cost. Young adults, ages 14 to 24, are ready to work 20—25 hours a week in July and August for up to 200 hours at no cost to the worksite. If you are ready to invest a few hours in training youth to complete your projects, you’ll get hundreds of hours of no-cost assistance. If you would like to take advantage of this temporary no-cost workforce solution, please complete a worksite application form at www.pacificgatewayworkforce.com or call (562) 570-4735, (562) 5704733 or toll free 866-631-9400. The Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network will provide wages, worker’s compensation insurance, a job coach and all required administrative procedures. If you are a nonprofit, government, or private-sector business and can provide a meaningful work experience in an established work environment, mentoring and all necessary work equipment and tools, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. The Summer Youth Employment Training Program is administered by the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network’s Youth Opportunity Center.
