What would you do with an internship?

This fall, BB2C rolled out an expanded region-wide internship program. While high school internships have long been one of our core programs in Washington County to bridge the gap between education and employment, we’ve recently been able to bring together resources and partnerships to provide internships to surrounding Appalachian counties as well.

Starting this past spring, BB2C and Rural Action were able to come together to offer internships to students in both Washington County and other counties. We’ve built upon this, thanks to partnerships with the Appalachian Children Coalition and the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition. Funding from these three organizations now allow us to offer paid internships to high school students and local businesses. Internships start at 40 hours for $500. We are currently looking for students and businesses in the following counties interested in a spring or summer internship:

• Washington

• Vinton

• Tuscarawas

• Scioto

• Ross

• Pike

• Pickaway

• Perry

• Noble

• Muskingum

• Morgan

• Monroe

• Meigs

• Lawrence

• Jefferson

• Jackson

• Holmes

• Hocking

• Highland

• Harrison

• Guernsey

• ·Gallia

• Coshocton

• Carroll

• Belmont

• Athens

• Adams

So far this fall, we’ve had 42 students from sixteen different schools in Appalachia submit an internship inquiry form. And we’ve had 7 businesses from three different counties submit an internship inquiry to host an intern.

Our Network Resource Coordinator, Claire Ramsey, oversees the region-wide internship process, including the initial inquiry forms. Once an inquiry is received, she forwards it on to a BECA (organizations who provide Business Engagement with Career Awareness) in whichever county the student or business is from. She also provides support to BECAs in the BB2C Network, including an internship model that can be used, answers to FAQs, and additional assistance as requested. Our BECA partners implementing internships in Appalachia include Project Rise in Athens County, Pickaway Works in Pickaway County, Meigs County Career Compass (MC3) in Meigs County, VC Works in Vinton County, and partnerships with Monroe and Logan-Hocking.

Other BB2C staff support internships in specific counties. Hunter Warsinsky, BB2C’s Placement Coordinator, oversees all internships in Washington County. Our Network Coordinator, Jordan Spence, works in Noble and Monroe Counties, as well as surrounding counties, and helps place and/or support students and businesses. And our Network Director, Jeremy Ward, runs internships in Vinton County and surrounding counties and oversees the region-wide BB2C internship program.

If you know of a student or business in any of the above counties interested in a paid internship, they can find more information at bb2careers.org/internships.