Ann Arbor SPARK to Manage Statewide Michigan Internship Program
Ann Arbor SPARK to Manage Statewide Michigan Internship Program
ANN ARBOR – Ann Arbor SPARK and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are launching Michigan STEM Forward, a statewide program that matches students attending Michigan colleges and universities with internship opportunities at the state’s leading innovative companies.
Michigan STEM Forward provides students with meaningful career experience and encourages them to look for opportunities to work for Michigan companies after graduation, while also providing financial support to the companies who hire these interns.
Ann Arbor SPARK has run the program on a local level through the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone with a decade of positive results. In scaling the program up, MEDC will work in partnership with SPARK to place 425-450 STEM students currently attending Michigan colleges annually into STEM-focused internships throughout the state. Companies do not have to be in a specific industry, but all internships must be STEM-focused.
“Ann Arbor SPARK is thrilled to leverage our decade of experience running our own Ann Arbor-based internship program and take the opportunity to administer the Michigan Stem Forward program on behalf of the state. We have a solid track record of delivering results that help both businesses and job seekers: Of the students that participated in our internship program over the last five years, 84 percent of them accepted jobs in Michigan upon graduation,” said Bill Mayer, Ann Arbor SPARK’s vice president of entrepreneurial services. “It’s vital that we not only attract talent to Michigan, but retain young jobseekers post-graduation as a strategy to extend the pipeline of workers available to growing companies.”
