Montpelier, VT – Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Department of Labor announced the recipients of the 2021 Vermont Internship Program today, awarding a total of $462,500 to 19 organizations throughout Vermont.
The Department of Labor promotes internships by providing grants to organizations that support or connect Vermont employers with student-interns from regional technical centers or postsecondary educational institutions.
“Internships play an important role in growing Vermont’s labor force by connecting students with employers as they gain experience and skills that will prepare them for future careers,” said Governor Scott. “By allowing a student to get their foot in the door with Vermont employers, these connections can help keep them here in the state for their careers.”
Applications for grant funding were submitted by organizations across Vermont, including regional technical and career centers, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, regional development corporations, regional planning commissions, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and other Vermont-based companies. More than $649,000 in grant funding was requested from 32 submitted applications. Applicants were able to submit for up to $25,000 in unmatched grant funding, or up to $50,000 in matched grant funding.
“Investing in work-based learning helps to build talent pipelines into promising careers at the grassroots level,” said Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington. “We know there is a shrinking labor force in Vermont, and this is just another tool in our toolkit to help match employers with interns who very well may become future employees. By providing employers with the immediate workforce they need, while simultaneously helping interns to build valuable skills, it is a win-win for our workforce.”
To learn more about the Vermont Internship Program, as well as opportunities, both for job seekers and employers, please visit the Vermont Department of Labor website at Labor.Vermont.gov.
The 2021 Vermont Internship Program has committed a total of $462,500 to the following grant recipients:
- Barre Unified School District c/o Central VT Career Center (Barre): To fund internships for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) students and Medical Professionals students in central Vermont.
- Bennington County Regional Commission (Bennington): To partner with the Southwestern Vermont Regional Technical School (SW Tech) and the Bennington County Workforce and Education group for a new secondary internship program, Connect VT, which builds infrastructure for connections between employers and work-ready students and provides internships that lead to careers in Bennington County.
- Burlington Technical Center (Burlington): To foster collaboration between the Aviation & Aerospace Technology program at Burlington Technical Center (BTC) and aviation employers in Chittenden County in order to further the interns’ education and careers in the fields of mechanical design, avionics, airframe and powerplant mechanics, manufacturing design, and other related avionics fields.
- Cassella Waste Systems, Inc. (Rutland): To expand current internship program to provide more opportunities for current Vermont-based college students engaged in fields of student, including environmental resources management, mechanics, engineering, IT, business, marketing, and communications.
- Castleton University (Castleton): To support the Castleton Vermont Internship Program (CVIP) to provide low-income and first-generation students with paid internships, build relationships with organizations to serve students and the community in the future, and assist students to see the myriad of benefits to continuing their professional lives within Vermont’s borders.
- Catamount Film and Arts Co. (St. Johnsbury): To create a paid and equitable internship program, to allow for students coming from lower income households and marginalized communities.
- Cathedral Square (Burlington): To provide support and training for up to 20 positions in areas from heath care to information technology across 140 nonprofit locations in all of Vermont’s 14 counties.
- Collins Parley Sports and Fitness Center, Inc. (St. Albans): To implement an internship program to provide support to the St. Albans facility in the areas of recreation and field maintenance, as well as health and wellness.
- Fab-Tech (Colchester): To support transitional classroom-to-workplace mentoring experiences for secondary and post-secondary welding skills interns.
- Green Mountain Transit Authority (Burlington): To offer internships in the disciplines of Marketing, Transit Planning, Information Technology, and Automotive Diesel Technology.
- Mack Molding Company (Arlington): To provide manufacturing experiences where students will be assigned real-world projects and assignments, introducing them to the rewards of a manufacturing career in southern Vermont.
- Patricia A. Hannaford Regional Technical School District (Middlebury): To build and manage sustainable internship program in the areas of high-tech manufacturing and healthcare, partnering with local employers, and especially supporting senior students in enrolled programs.
- Rutland Economic Development Corporation (Rutland): To create the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region Internship Program to develop and execute internship opportunities throughout Rutland County for college-age students both locally and beyond.
- Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (Brattleboro): To fund the Pipelines and Pathways Program, which addresses the need for a well-prepared workforce, providing Career Awareness and Readiness programming in all southeastern Vermont Supervisory Unions.
- University of Vermont and State Agricultural College (Burlington): To support scholarship program to encourage undergraduate students to pursue Vermont-based internship opportunities.
- Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (Shelburne): To continue to build a pipeline to support both this career pathway for high school students and to support needed recruitment and retention into the early childhood education profession.
- Vermont Chamber of Commerce (Montpelier): To support VCC’s Legislative Monitoring Collaborative, providing postsecondary students and graduates opportunity to learn more about the legislative process and public policy that affects Vermont businesses through a structured work-based learning experience.
- Vermont Vehicle and Automotive Distributors Association (Barre): To increase internships in automotive technology by engaging students with employers through job shadows and other introductory activities.
- Vermont Works for Women (Winooski): To support the Youth @ Work program, which matches female and gender non-conforming students with an employer-based internship in such areas as human services, medical professions, hospitality, construction trades, manufacturing, and information technology.