Teen Summer-Intern Program Targets Small, Medium-Size Businesses

Think your business is too small to host a summer intern? Think again.

School-to-work advocates are trying to expand internship opportunities for thousands of the state’s teenagers with the launch of California Intern Summer 2000.

The idea is to move internships beyond traditional hosts such as law firms, hospitals and big corporations by recruiting small and medium-size businesses in all fields to participate.

The new program is an expansion of Groundhog Job Shadow Day, a national event in which businesses bring local students into the workplace for a day. Small employers stepped up big in that February effort. Now California organizers are trying to get them to commit to a much larger dose of mentoring by bringing youngsters into their offices and factories for the summer.

Internships traditionally are the specialty of large corporations that have the resources to offer guidance and structure. That’s why Los Angeles-area coordinator David Rattray knows he has his work cut out for him in a city where Fortune 500 companies are leaving town faster than runaway movie production.

“Los Angeles has an economy driven by small and medium-size companies,” said Rattray, president of Unite-LA, a Southland school-to-career partnership. “If we only target big businesses here, the opportunities for our kids will just be too darn limited.”

Companies ideally would offer students 16 and older paid employment along with an overall view of the business and the industry. But Rattray says the program must be flexible in its inaugural year. So organizers will consider placing some students into part-time, unpaid positions as well.

The goal is to give youngsters exposure to as many potential careers as possible throughout high school and college and to reinforce how academics relate to the real world.

What’s in it for the business owners?

The chance to help mold the future work force, send feedback to educators and snag young talent in a tight labor market.

Business owners interested in participating should check out the program’s Web site at https://www.internsummer.com or call Rattray at (213) 482-3987.