Hire an Intern, Change a Life.

Our region’s young people need you now more than ever. Provide a paid internship for a Philadelphia young person this summer.

The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Michael Nutter are asking companies throughout the 11-county region to either offer an internship at your workplace or fund a position at a nonprofit organization.

The benefits of this program are two-fold. Interns help grow your business by boosting summer productivity and completing important short-term projects. Internships are also a long-term investment in our region’s success because they give young people the tools and experience necessary to become capable future employees.

Each position costs the employer about $1,600, which includes intern salary and program administration for the six-week program. Interns work at least 20 hours per week Monday through Thursday and attend professional development programs offsite on Fridays. The program begins July 6. Internships are open to Philadelphia students who will enter 11th grade or higher in the fall. All students are pre-screened and interviewed by the prospective employers.

Despite the troubled economy, the Chamber is encouraging the business community to match the 1,500 internships that employers provided last summer. So far, 479 positions have been committed for 2009.

This is the third year the Chamber has called on regional companies — from large corporations to small businesses — to invest in our region’s future workforce by hiring summer interns. The 1,500 positions provided last year represent nearly a 50 percent increase over 2007 when the Chamber helped to identify 1,049 positions. And this is a significant improvement over 2006, when 441 youth were placed.

The Chamber’s managing partner in identifying internships is WorkReady Philadelphia, which is managed by the Philadelphia Youth Network in collaboration with dozens of public and private organizations including Philadelphia Academies, Inc. and the United Way of Southeastern PA. The corporate partner is TD Bank.

For more information or to get involved, contact 215-790-3732 or visit greaterphilachamber.com.