The Power of Internships
The mission of New Memphis has, for decades, been to make the most of existing and potential talent so the city can thrive. Its programs, which aim to attract, develop, activate, and retain talent, cover the widest range, from executives to students.
“Building the talent pool our city needs means, yes, recruiting fresh young professionals to Memphis,” says Nancy Coffee, New Memphis president and CEO. “But it also means making sure our local young talent in Memphis wants to stay here, and that they can secure meaningful employment.”
To that end, with more than 25,000 students in local four-year colleges or universities, New Memphis wants to retain local collegians and connect them to careers here in the Bluff City. This summer marks the debut of the organization’s Launch: Campus to Career initiative, a free program that connects college students with networks and professional opportunities that can help establish careers in Memphis. “Through Launch, we introduce college students to the dynamic community of local employers while helping students learn to navigate the workplace, build networks, and plot their career,” Coffee says. “We help connect students to quality internship experiences with local companies.”
Coffee describes internships as magnetic, attracting talented, motivated young people to local companies and improving productivity and employee retention, all of which benefits the company. Internships, she says, also benefit the region economically. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), says 83 percent of students stay in the region where they interned after graduation.
“Internships also lead to important outcomes for students,” Coffee says. “National data shows that internship experiences make it more likely for a student to persist to graduation, find full-time employment within six months of graduation, and remain in the region in which they interned – all wins for our community at large.”
The importance of networking is key to secure meaningful full-time employment after college graduation. The Launch: Campus to Career program helps students build this social capital, providing students connections with established professionals and references who can help them advance.
The program offers an online internship portal where employers can find diverse intern talent and students can search for open opportunities that match their skills and interests. The free portal is a one-stop shop for students and employers to connect easily.
For companies that don’t have internship programs, New Memphis provides resources and tools for local employers to create or grow such programs. It can help a company customize it’s intern program and help find intern talent. For more information on developing an internship program email frankie@newmemphis.org. For info on the new Launch program, go here.
News from elsewhere
Ariel Hall at the New Tri-State Defender write about this week’s Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum’s 11th annual Economic Development Forum. Read about it here.
This week we heard that Varsity Brands was being sold to Bain Capital Private Equity for around $2.5 billion. Read Meagan Nichols’ story in the Memphis Business Journal here (subscription).
Bill Dries of The Daily News reports that the City Council OK’d a 13-year contract with the Memphis River Parks Partnership. Read about it here.
The Woodard ResidenceWhat’s going on
- archimania won three 2018 American Architecture Awards of just over 100 awards given to architecture firms from around the country. Winning were: Memphis Teacher Residency in Crosstown Concourse, Redeemer Presbyterian Church on South Cooper (the only religious building to have been awarded), and Woodard Residence in the South Main Historic District.
- The Vaco Memphis CPE series seminar on June 27 has a change in venue. It will now be at Chickasaw Country Club, 3395 Galloway Avenue. The seminar offers CPE credits to attendees. It’s from 1-5 p.m. and will cover digital finance trends and technologies, cybersecurity and using CIAM to deliver a secure digital experience, the impact of key international and business provisions of the new tax law, and key features of ASU that became effective for reporting. Tickets are $75 via PayPal or cash and check at the door. Click here for more.
- The nonprofit Explore Bike Share launched a month ago, bringing a 60-station, 600-bike bike share system to Memphis. As of Wednesday, some 2,950 Memphis residents and visitors have taken 6,423 rides covering 26,078 miles between Explore Bike Share’s 60 stations from Downtown, West Memphis, South Memphis, Cooper Young, Orange Mound, Overton Square, and Crosstown.
Innovators of the Year
Inside Memphis Business magazine has been recognizing the top thinkers and doers in the city for several years. Our sixth annual IMB Innovation Awards issue is coming in October and we want your nominations for these people and organizations that are at the forefront of evolution — tinkerers, questioners, visionaries — who keep the machine of commerce oiled.
Nominations have started to come in and we want you to send us your best and brightest candidates. Please include any pertinent biographical or business information, and why the person, business, or organization should be recognized as a leader among innovators.
Email your nomination to sparks@insidememphisbusiness.
Power Player
Erich MouceInside Memphis Business magazine publishes a list of local Power Players every year. These are the movers and shakers in more than 30 categories who get things done in their respective fields. IMB’s April issue has the complete list. We also publish individual categories in other issues throughout the year, and we feature individual Power Players in our weekly Tip Sheet.
Today’s Power Player: Erich Mounce
CEO of the West Clinic and West Cancer Center. B.S., Business, University of Southern California. B.S. and M.H.A. in Health Administration, California State University, Northridge. Previously, CEO of Lakeside Systems/Lakeside Comprehensive Healthcare in Glendale, California. Developed DC Healthcare Alliance, a public-private partnership to provide care for the underserved Washington, D.C., population. Helped to formulate a three-way collaboration between Methodist, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and The West Clinic to create the West Cancer Center, an innovative effort to combine expertise and provide new research and access to Phase I through Phase III clinical trials.
