Bemidji State University and the George W. Neilson Foundation are accepting applications from Bemidji-area employers for a summer program that offers financial incentives to businesses who hire BSU and Northwest Technical College students for paid internships.
The Neilson Foundation will be funding 15 internships, including one specifically for health and nursing and 14 for any other private business pertaining to any major or program offered by Bemidji State or Northwest Technical College.
Funding will be split equally with 50 percent of the hourly compensation for the intern being paid by the foundation, up to a maximum of $2,500, and the other 50 percent paid by the participating business.
Businesses applying for internship funding must be located within 30 miles of Bemidji. Employers must apply for the program by Feb. 28.
The internship partnership launched in the summer of 2012 to promote academic development and to encourage employers to provide local, paid internship opportunities for BSU students. Originally planned to launch with 10 internships, high employer demand led to 13 positions being created at 12 businesses. Since its inception, the program has funded more than 110 internships, and the program’s 88 participating employers have paid more than $482,000 in salaries to their interns.
About the Neilson Foundation
The George W. Neilson Foundation supports community development projects by making grants to programs and projects that improve the lives of the area’s children, adults and senior citizens. The foundation concentrates its giving program in the city of Bemidji and the surrounding area. Following the wishes of contributor Katharine Neilson Cram, the foundation supports northern Minnesota and the Bemidji area, where she spent the summers of her youth and lived throughout her later life.
Contact
- Molly Aitkin-Julin, internship and employment coordinator, Bemidji State University; (218) 755-2038, maitken@bemidjistate.edu
Links
Bemidji State University, located amid the lakes and forests of northern Minnesota, occupies a wooded campus along the shore of Lake Bemidji. Enrolling more than 5,100 students, Bemidji State offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and eight graduate degrees encompassing arts, sciences and select professional programs. BSU is a member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities and has a faculty and staff of more than 550. The university’s Shared Fundamental Values include environmental stewardship, civic engagement and international and multicultural understanding.