August 12, 2025 • 19 mins
Welcome to a new season! And welcome to a new format for some of our episodes, where you get to hear from multiple experts on a topic, tied together by host and Livability Editor in Chief Amanda Ellis. In this episode, we’re sharing how you can retain students and recent grads in your community, including:
4:45 - Partnerships & Intern Grand Forks
7:35 - Industry-Specific Funding Support
8:15 - Registered Apprenticeships
10:30 - Wraparound Support for Interns & Campus Tulsa
12:20 - Helping Interns Connect to the Community & The Flinterns
Resources Mentioned:
What You Need to Know About Registered Apprenticeship
At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs.
Be sure to subscribe so you’re alerted when we release new episodes. Learn more about us at LivabilityMedia.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email host Amanda Ellis at aellis@livability.com.
Inside America’s Best Cities is produced by SpeakEasy Productions.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amanda [00:00:10]:
Hey listeners, welcome, or welcome back for a lot of you, to Inside America's Best Cities. We're bringing you some more great interviews this season, but we're also going to be trying out a new format for some of our episodes like this one, that we're really excited about. We're keeping our focus on talent attraction, being a best place to live, and other economic development topics that we love talking about. But instead of just one guest at a time, we'll have several expert guests sharing their perspective around the topic in some shorter sound bites. As your host, I'll tie it all together for you and make sure you get the latest and greatest on the topic at hand. Check out the timestamps in our show notes to go straight to the parts of this episode that you're the most interested in. But as always, you can learn more about Livability and about this podcast livabilitymedia.com and with that, let's jump in. (00:00):
undefined
Amanda [00:01:13]: Today we're going to be talking about retaining students in your community. Summertime in particular, always makes me think back to my days as a summer intern. And that's part of what really got me thinking, that I wanted to cover this topic. Well, that and also the fact that a question I get a lot when I speak about town attraction and workforce is (00:01):
“How do we retain our students? How do we retain our young people in our community and in our region?” That's becoming more important than ever when you factor in some of the workforce issues overall and what some experts are calling the “forever workforce shortage,” so to speak, that we're heading toward. And communities are really thinking about how they preserve the talent that they already have in light of some of that. Internships, of course, are a huge part of this. And internships in a variety of fields, of course, making sure that people are able to get that early experience, making sure that plenty of those opportunities are available in your community, goes without saying at this point that ideally these should be paid. I'm sure many of us listening did our share of unpaid internships and I'm glad that as a whole we're really moving away from that and seeing that, you know, even though interns are learning, they usually are also filling in the gaps on maybe some lower level work, that sort of thing. And also that it's a real opportunity equalizer to be sure that you're paying your interns so that everyone can have access to these experiences.
Amanda [00:02:41]: In sum, though, the reason this is so important, all of this, if your young people, your students, if they're having to Head to other places for internships, then those communities are going to be better positioned to retain them than you are, which is exactly what you don't want. So that's why it's so important to have a variety of internships, apprenticeships. Early career opportunities can look a lot of different ways, but having that breadth and variety in your region is super key. And of course equally key that the students in your area actually know about what you're offering. I also want to be clear that this isn't just about people landing a job with that exact company that they interned with. It's great if that does happen, but if you think about it, you know, I still keep in touch with professional contacts and mentors from my internships that were now over 10 years ago, which is crazy to think about. And you might relate to that thinking back to some of those early career experiences, people that helped you and that early network that you built. And that early network can also play a big role in, you know, wherever you end up, location wise. (00:02):
undefined
Amanda [00:03:47]: And if they're based primarily in one place and there's a high chance that that's where you'll end up launching your career and potentially staying or becoming a longtime resident. So how do you actually go about creating more internship opportunities in your community? I'm going to walk you through several different tactics and strategies today to be thinking about. And again, remember that you can reference our show notes to go straight to the ones that you're most interested in. Sometimes your employers might need a little help, right? And you, our listeners, are of course some of the most well positioned people to be that helper. So this could look like hosting information sessions about hiring interns and how to maximize their time both for business purposes and for their own learning. It could even look like help with actually paying interns. And to that end, one of my favorite examples of an EDO helping create more internships is, is Intern Grand Forks out of Grand Forks, North Dakota. They partner with the University of North Dakota, their university, to pay a portion of interns salaries ranging from about 30% to about 50% of that total cost. (00:03):
undefined
Amanda [00:04:59]: And then the company hosting the intern covers the rest. The program focuses on high wage, in demand careers and it's designed to support both the employers and especially any that might be new to working with interns, and also supports students helping everyone really get the most out of the experience. So we're going to hear from Becca Cruger of the Grand Forks EDC who helps put on that program, on how their EDC shares the workload of this program with their partner university. (00:04):
undefined
Becca Cruger [00:05:31]: What we do as an EDC is anything that has to do with employers. So especially for startup companies, writing a job description can be a little bit difficult. Understanding how do I contract or put together the employment paperwork sometimes for their very first employee. And what supports you have to have in place for an intern? Things like an actual space that they need to come into work or a laptop. Yes, you have to buy and provide that for your intern. They can't use their own, so anything like that. The EDC does and and then we also promote the program to our 150 members. And then on the university side they really handle students and the student's journey. So what does it look like for students who are searching for internships? They meet with interns on a weekly basis to do a check in. Sometimes it's just a form, so it's not an actual meeting. And sometimes it's an actual face to face that they're doing with those students because they're wanting to make sure that students are really thinking about am I getting the internship experience that I want? And if not, how do I ask for that? (00:05):
undefined
Amanda [00:06:55]: You can imagine how this cost sharing model, along with the other support that they're offering could really help businesses make that initial jump to try out working with an internal. I'll also add that their funding and their work here is distributed throughout the year. So it doesn't just focus on summer interns, but also offering opportunities for students throughout the year. So I say follow the lead of Grand Forks and think about how partnerships can help you increase internship opportunities. They've seen a huge boost in this community in their retention rates for students sticking around town. The other thing I'll say about funding options for paying interns is sometimes you'll find options out there, especially for certain industry clusters. 2 I know of are. One is from the Mechanical Contractors association of America. (00:06):
undefined
Amanda [00:07:45]: There's another from the National Systems Contractors association, both offering internship grants to companies. And there are similar programs available through other industry groups too. Typically they're in pretty specific career areas that maybe are less likely to be top of mind for the average college student. But just a matter of looking into what might be out there in whatever field you're thinking about or the field an employer trying to help is in because there are some of those options out there. Apprenticeships are another great option. So apprenticeships are hands on paid training models registered with the U.S. department of Labor. Usually they require about 2,000 hours working under an expert plus some type of education component that supplements what the apprentice is learning on the job site. (00:07):
undefined
Amanda [00:08:34]: This probably makes you think of skilled trades, but this is a concept that's expanded quite a bit beyond those as well, even including, for example, things like training K12 teachers. Nicole Bentley, with an organization called Sofful Partners, helps chambers engage with apprenticeships and, and we're going to hear a little bit more from her. (00:08):
undefined
Nicole Bentley [00:08:57]: Registered apprenticeship, really at its core, is meant to be an on ramp for someone to access these career pathways. And oftentimes this is someone who's coming in with either little or no knowledge of the career or the occupation at hand. And then we are training someone to become fully proficient in the occupation. So we're not just training them to become entry level. The whole point of this is that we put them through this and they are so good when they finish that they could train someone else. (00:09):
undefined
Amanda [00:09:30]: I'll be the first to admit that all the little details of apprenticeships can be a little bit complicated to navigate. They can also vary significantly from state to state. Nicole, who we just heard from, did a full podcast episode with us about how you can boost apprenticeship opportunities in your region. And, and we'll link that up in the show notes so you can get some more information. But at minimum, knowing the contacts in your state who are the experts and can be a resource facilitating those connections and information for your businesses. As I know all of you listening are so good at doing that alone can be really helpful. You also want to make sure that these opportunities that you're busy creating are actually reaching students and those people that you want to reach. That could mean working with your college career offices in your area, you know, advisors and professors at your local schools to be sure that students are aware of the local opportunities available for them to start getting that early experience. (00:10):
undefined
Amanda [00:10:27]: And some cities even have an entire organization dedicated to this as well as to wraparound support for interns and students getting those early career experiences. One of these is Campus Tulsa. (00:11):
undefined
Brooke Randles [00:10:41]: Campus Tulsa, just to put simply, is really the one stop shop for anything when it comes to internships and early career here in Tulsa. And so you might have been familiar with Campus Philly or Campus Greensboro, Campus Rochester. All of those organizations have had a really large impact on paving the way that we've done things here in Tulsa. But ultimately what we're doing is connecting students to internship opportunities through different recruitment efforts. We provide a housing benefit for students as well. So we're connecting them with our own housing that we've worked out here with a local institution, support them through that and then we really just cultivate a lot of events that showcase the people and the culture of Tulsa to make sure that students and interns understand that Tulsa is not just somewhere where they can have a career, but it's somewhere that they can really create community and enjoy living. (00:12):
undefined
Amanda [00:11:43]: That's Brooke Randles that we just heard from and to her last point there about making sure your students understand how they can build a great life in your community. Building out programming around that is a real best practice for student retention. We know from our own research at Livability that where we choose to live is never just about a job or just about work. Right. It's about quality of life just as much and in this case, about young people really being able to see a future living in your region. Some communities offer special programs for interns in their area to envision life as a young professional in that city and make those new connections. One of my favorites is the Flinterns out of Flint, Michigan. And we actually caught up with Brianna Mosher, who runs that program to hear more about their work. (00:13):
undefined
Brianna Mosier [00:12:37]: Flinterns, at its core is a five week add on experience for college students who are already interning with local businesses. But we don't just leave it at the job experience. What we found, and what I'm sure many of you have too is that students may love their internship, but still don't see themselves staying in the community long term. And for us that's a problem. So our goal is to shift that mindset while we have a connection point to them. The program itself was created from a conversation with two employers who both said, I have a intern this summer or I have a few interns this summer. How do I help them meet other students their age and how can I show them what there is to do during their five to nine? So what we do is we start with a kickoff event. This is high energy, think team building, choose your own adventure. Community tours and networking with local leaders. From there, interns then participate in weekly programming. So we continue that touch point throughout the summer. And this helps us mix in professional development opportunities like resume building, LinkedIn workshops, all with community immersion in mind. So we also incorporate local arts tours, downtown dining, take them to cool and unusual places to host these events. So they're not only getting that enrichment, but seeing our community in the process. And we like to think of it as not just building resumes, but really helping students to build a life here. This summer we had close to 90 interns go through the program and some of them have already been offered full time job opportunities, which is the ultimate win for us. And that is huge growth from where we started in 2021 with just eight students on a zoom. Which sounds silly, but when the idea popped up, we knew we just needed to start somewhere. I know that many of you are probably grappling with these same challenges. How do we retain students after graduation, especially in mid sized markets or regions outside of the usual suspects we see. Programs like Flinterns help answer that question by giving students a reason to connect both emotionally and socially to our communities. And we are not doing this alone. This program is really rooted in partnership. First and foremost. It aligns with the broader state of Michigan efforts to promote talent retention and encourage more young people to live and work in Michigan after graduation. Our work really complements those strategies by helping to localize that vision and add real life on the ground engagement. We also have a great partnership with Michigan State University's College of Social Science who runs a program called MSU Flint Study Away. This program sat dormant for a couple of years, but a few years ago sort of reignited. And in partnership with Flinterns, that program itself has been able to grow from just a handful of students to over 20 students who participated from MSU this summer. And the thing that I love the most about their program is that it also gives students the opportunity to live in downtown Flint during their summer internship. So early on we saw a lot of students who were already coming home to the region and looking for an internship participate. And now that has sort of reversed more students who are not from the region who are excited about coming to live in downtown Flint for the summer. And then they also get this awesome community experience through Flinterns. And then finally, we have a lot of amazing state partners, economic development organizations, chamber of commerce, who are doing similar work in their regions. And so we come together to share ideas and make sure that again across that broader state of Michigan strategy that we're aligning on efforts to so that every single region is winning. So a couple of advice points if you're thinking about starting something similar. First and foremost, keep it student centered. Think about what would make you want to stay in a place after college, what is current and relevant. That's the hard thing with a program like this is it almost has to be refreshed every single year as culture is changing. But it really keeps it fun. I'd also encourage you to engage local employers early. I think that a lot of employers are often looking for ways to add value to their internship programs, and this gives them a built in structure to do just that. We've also created a separate arm of programming that occurs during the fall and winter months to educate employers on the benefits of starting internship programs and how to build them from the ground up. That takes a lot of effort, but in those efforts, we've seen employers who were starting from nothing now host 1, 2, 5 interns a summer, which is really great not only for our region, but for their talent pipeline too. And then finally, I would say make it fun. Professional growth is going to happen no matter what you do. And that can also come in discovering the coffee shops and galleries and festivals. And that's really the stuff that turns a city into a home. So having it, you know, fun at the, at the root of it is definitely going to help. And then I would also just say if you're interested in bringing a version of Flinterns to your region, I would be more than happy to connect. At the end of the day, the more we invest in making our communities sticky for talent, the stronger our economies become. And as economic developers, you know, we have to work together in that. So please feel free to reach out at any time. (00:14):
undefined
Amanda [00:18:00]: I really, really love what they're doing there and like Bri said there, feel free to reach out to her. If you're thinking about replicating a program like this, you can also look for an upcoming episode from us continuing this topic with an interview about the statewide Fuel Alabama program that encourages students to stay in the state. Lastly, marketing always matters. This is one of our favorite things to talk about at Livability, but the content out there about your area, the stories you're telling, it all adds up to perceptions of your community. It's how you reach talent, not just students and young professionals that have been the focus of this episode, but the people in all phases of life that you need to be a truly vibrant place. If you want to show that you're a perfect place for students, recent grads, and everybody else too. We at Livability can help with that via our content programs. So now you're all set to be a talent magnet for your students and your recent grads and ultimately growing your pool of young professionals. (00:15):
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Amanda [00:19:07]: Thanks for listening to the Livability podcast, where we take you Inside America's Best Cities. At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review this show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also learn more about us at livabilitymedia.com. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email me at aellis@livability.com. Until next time, from Livability, I'm Amanda Ellis, sharing the stories of America's most promising places. (00:16):
undefined
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Amanda [00:01:13]: Today we're going to be talking about retaining students in your community. Summertime in particular, always makes me think back to my days as a summer intern. And that's part of what really got me thinking, that I wanted to cover this topic. Well, that and also the fact that a question I get a lot when I speak about town attraction and workforce is (00:01):
“How do we retain our students? How do we retain our young people in our community and in our region?” That's becoming more important than ever when you factor in some of the workforce issues overall and what some experts are calling the “forever workforce shortage,” so to speak, that we're heading toward. And communities are really thinking about how they preserve the talent that they already have in light of some of that. Internships, of course, are a huge part of this. And internships in a variety of fields, of course, making sure that people are able to get that early experience, making sure that plenty of those opportunities are available in your community, goes without saying at this point that ideally these should be paid. I'm sure many of us listening did our share of unpaid internships and I'm glad that as a whole we're really moving away from that and seeing that, you know, even though interns are learning, they usually are also filling in the gaps on maybe some lower level work, that sort of thing. And also that it's a real opportunity equalizer to be sure that you're paying your interns so that everyone can have access to these experiences.
Amanda [00:02:41]: In sum, though, the reason this is so important, all of this, if your young people, your students, if they're having to Head to other places for internships, then those communities are going to be better positioned to retain them than you are, which is exactly what you don't want. So that's why it's so important to have a variety of internships, apprenticeships. Early career opportunities can look a lot of different ways, but having that breadth and variety in your region is super key. And of course equally key that the students in your area actually know about what you're offering. I also want to be clear that this isn't just about people landing a job with that exact company that they interned with. It's great if that does happen, but if you think about it, you know, I still keep in touch with professional contacts and mentors from my internships that were now over 10 years ago, which is crazy to think about. And you might relate to that thinking back to some of those early career experiences, people that helped you and that early network that you built. And that early network can also play a big role in, you know, wherever you end up, location wise. (00:02):
undefined
Amanda [00:03:47]: And if they're based primarily in one place and there's a high chance that that's where you'll end up launching your career and potentially staying or becoming a longtime resident. So how do you actually go about creating more internship opportunities in your community? I'm going to walk you through several different tactics and strategies today to be thinking about. And again, remember that you can reference our show notes to go straight to the ones that you're most interested in. Sometimes your employers might need a little help, right? And you, our listeners, are of course some of the most well positioned people to be that helper. So this could look like hosting information sessions about hiring interns and how to maximize their time both for business purposes and for their own learning. It could even look like help with actually paying interns. And to that end, one of my favorite examples of an EDO helping create more internships is, is Intern Grand Forks out of Grand Forks, North Dakota. They partner with the University of North Dakota, their university, to pay a portion of interns salaries ranging from about 30% to about 50% of that total cost. (00:03):
undefined
Amanda [00:04:59]: And then the company hosting the intern covers the rest. The program focuses on high wage, in demand careers and it's designed to support both the employers and especially any that might be new to working with interns, and also supports students helping everyone really get the most out of the experience. So we're going to hear from Becca Cruger of the Grand Forks EDC who helps put on that program, on how their EDC shares the workload of this program with their partner university. (00:04):
undefined
Becca Cruger [00:05:31]: What we do as an EDC is anything that has to do with employers. So especially for startup companies, writing a job description can be a little bit difficult. Understanding how do I contract or put together the employment paperwork sometimes for their very first employee. And what supports you have to have in place for an intern? Things like an actual space that they need to come into work or a laptop. Yes, you have to buy and provide that for your intern. They can't use their own, so anything like that. The EDC does and and then we also promote the program to our 150 members. And then on the university side they really handle students and the student's journey. So what does it look like for students who are searching for internships? They meet with interns on a weekly basis to do a check in. Sometimes it's just a form, so it's not an actual meeting. And sometimes it's an actual face to face that they're doing with those students because they're wanting to make sure that students are really thinking about am I getting the internship experience that I want? And if not, how do I ask for that? (00:05):
undefined
Amanda [00:06:55]: You can imagine how this cost sharing model, along with the other support that they're offering could really help businesses make that initial jump to try out working with an internal. I'll also add that their funding and their work here is distributed throughout the year. So it doesn't just focus on summer interns, but also offering opportunities for students throughout the year. So I say follow the lead of Grand Forks and think about how partnerships can help you increase internship opportunities. They've seen a huge boost in this community in their retention rates for students sticking around town. The other thing I'll say about funding options for paying interns is sometimes you'll find options out there, especially for certain industry clusters. 2 I know of are. One is from the Mechanical Contractors association of America. (00:06):
undefined
Amanda [00:07:45]: There's another from the National Systems Contractors association, both offering internship grants to companies. And there are similar programs available through other industry groups too. Typically they're in pretty specific career areas that maybe are less likely to be top of mind for the average college student. But just a matter of looking into what might be out there in whatever field you're thinking about or the field an employer trying to help is in because there are some of those options out there. Apprenticeships are another great option. So apprenticeships are hands on paid training models registered with the U.S. department of Labor. Usually they require about 2,000 hours working under an expert plus some type of education component that supplements what the apprentice is learning on the job site. (00:07):
undefined
Amanda [00:08:34]: This probably makes you think of skilled trades, but this is a concept that's expanded quite a bit beyond those as well, even including, for example, things like training K12 teachers. Nicole Bentley, with an organization called Sofful Partners, helps chambers engage with apprenticeships and, and we're going to hear a little bit more from her. (00:08):
undefined
Nicole Bentley [00:08:57]: Registered apprenticeship, really at its core, is meant to be an on ramp for someone to access these career pathways. And oftentimes this is someone who's coming in with either little or no knowledge of the career or the occupation at hand. And then we are training someone to become fully proficient in the occupation. So we're not just training them to become entry level. The whole point of this is that we put them through this and they are so good when they finish that they could train someone else. (00:09):
undefined
Amanda [00:09:30]: I'll be the first to admit that all the little details of apprenticeships can be a little bit complicated to navigate. They can also vary significantly from state to state. Nicole, who we just heard from, did a full podcast episode with us about how you can boost apprenticeship opportunities in your region. And, and we'll link that up in the show notes so you can get some more information. But at minimum, knowing the contacts in your state who are the experts and can be a resource facilitating those connections and information for your businesses. As I know all of you listening are so good at doing that alone can be really helpful. You also want to make sure that these opportunities that you're busy creating are actually reaching students and those people that you want to reach. That could mean working with your college career offices in your area, you know, advisors and professors at your local schools to be sure that students are aware of the local opportunities available for them to start getting that early experience. (00:10):
undefined
Amanda [00:10:27]: And some cities even have an entire organization dedicated to this as well as to wraparound support for interns and students getting those early career experiences. One of these is Campus Tulsa. (00:11):
undefined
Brooke Randles [00:10:41]: Campus Tulsa, just to put simply, is really the one stop shop for anything when it comes to internships and early career here in Tulsa. And so you might have been familiar with Campus Philly or Campus Greensboro, Campus Rochester. All of those organizations have had a really large impact on paving the way that we've done things here in Tulsa. But ultimately what we're doing is connecting students to internship opportunities through different recruitment efforts. We provide a housing benefit for students as well. So we're connecting them with our own housing that we've worked out here with a local institution, support them through that and then we really just cultivate a lot of events that showcase the people and the culture of Tulsa to make sure that students and interns understand that Tulsa is not just somewhere where they can have a career, but it's somewhere that they can really create community and enjoy living. (00:12):
undefined
Amanda [00:11:43]: That's Brooke Randles that we just heard from and to her last point there about making sure your students understand how they can build a great life in your community. Building out programming around that is a real best practice for student retention. We know from our own research at Livability that where we choose to live is never just about a job or just about work. Right. It's about quality of life just as much and in this case, about young people really being able to see a future living in your region. Some communities offer special programs for interns in their area to envision life as a young professional in that city and make those new connections. One of my favorites is the Flinterns out of Flint, Michigan. And we actually caught up with Brianna Mosher, who runs that program to hear more about their work. (00:13):
undefined
Brianna Mosier [00:12:37]: Flinterns, at its core is a five week add on experience for college students who are already interning with local businesses. But we don't just leave it at the job experience. What we found, and what I'm sure many of you have too is that students may love their internship, but still don't see themselves staying in the community long term. And for us that's a problem. So our goal is to shift that mindset while we have a connection point to them. The program itself was created from a conversation with two employers who both said, I have a intern this summer or I have a few interns this summer. How do I help them meet other students their age and how can I show them what there is to do during their five to nine? So what we do is we start with a kickoff event. This is high energy, think team building, choose your own adventure. Community tours and networking with local leaders. From there, interns then participate in weekly programming. So we continue that touch point throughout the summer. And this helps us mix in professional development opportunities like resume building, LinkedIn workshops, all with community immersion in mind. So we also incorporate local arts tours, downtown dining, take them to cool and unusual places to host these events. So they're not only getting that enrichment, but seeing our community in the process. And we like to think of it as not just building resumes, but really helping students to build a life here. This summer we had close to 90 interns go through the program and some of them have already been offered full time job opportunities, which is the ultimate win for us. And that is huge growth from where we started in 2021 with just eight students on a zoom. Which sounds silly, but when the idea popped up, we knew we just needed to start somewhere. I know that many of you are probably grappling with these same challenges. How do we retain students after graduation, especially in mid sized markets or regions outside of the usual suspects we see. Programs like Flinterns help answer that question by giving students a reason to connect both emotionally and socially to our communities. And we are not doing this alone. This program is really rooted in partnership. First and foremost. It aligns with the broader state of Michigan efforts to promote talent retention and encourage more young people to live and work in Michigan after graduation. Our work really complements those strategies by helping to localize that vision and add real life on the ground engagement. We also have a great partnership with Michigan State University's College of Social Science who runs a program called MSU Flint Study Away. This program sat dormant for a couple of years, but a few years ago sort of reignited. And in partnership with Flinterns, that program itself has been able to grow from just a handful of students to over 20 students who participated from MSU this summer. And the thing that I love the most about their program is that it also gives students the opportunity to live in downtown Flint during their summer internship. So early on we saw a lot of students who were already coming home to the region and looking for an internship participate. And now that has sort of reversed more students who are not from the region who are excited about coming to live in downtown Flint for the summer. And then they also get this awesome community experience through Flinterns. And then finally, we have a lot of amazing state partners, economic development organizations, chamber of commerce, who are doing similar work in their regions. And so we come together to share ideas and make sure that again across that broader state of Michigan strategy that we're aligning on efforts to so that every single region is winning. So a couple of advice points if you're thinking about starting something similar. First and foremost, keep it student centered. Think about what would make you want to stay in a place after college, what is current and relevant. That's the hard thing with a program like this is it almost has to be refreshed every single year as culture is changing. But it really keeps it fun. I'd also encourage you to engage local employers early. I think that a lot of employers are often looking for ways to add value to their internship programs, and this gives them a built in structure to do just that. We've also created a separate arm of programming that occurs during the fall and winter months to educate employers on the benefits of starting internship programs and how to build them from the ground up. That takes a lot of effort, but in those efforts, we've seen employers who were starting from nothing now host 1, 2, 5 interns a summer, which is really great not only for our region, but for their talent pipeline too. And then finally, I would say make it fun. Professional growth is going to happen no matter what you do. And that can also come in discovering the coffee shops and galleries and festivals. And that's really the stuff that turns a city into a home. So having it, you know, fun at the, at the root of it is definitely going to help. And then I would also just say if you're interested in bringing a version of Flinterns to your region, I would be more than happy to connect. At the end of the day, the more we invest in making our communities sticky for talent, the stronger our economies become. And as economic developers, you know, we have to work together in that. So please feel free to reach out at any time. (00:14):
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Amanda [00:18:00]: I really, really love what they're doing there and like Bri said there, feel free to reach out to her. If you're thinking about replicating a program like this, you can also look for an upcoming episode from us continuing this topic with an interview about the statewide Fuel Alabama program that encourages students to stay in the state. Lastly, marketing always matters. This is one of our favorite things to talk about at Livability, but the content out there about your area, the stories you're telling, it all adds up to perceptions of your community. It's how you reach talent, not just students and young professionals that have been the focus of this episode, but the people in all phases of life that you need to be a truly vibrant place. If you want to show that you're a perfect place for students, recent grads, and everybody else too. We at Livability can help with that via our content programs. So now you're all set to be a talent magnet for your students and your recent grads and ultimately growing your pool of young professionals. (00:15):
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Amanda [00:19:07]: Thanks for listening to the Livability podcast, where we take you Inside America's Best Cities. At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review this show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also learn more about us at livabilitymedia.com. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email me at aellis@livability.com. Until next time, from Livability, I'm Amanda Ellis, sharing the stories of America's most promising places. (00:16):
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