Purdue gains Burton D. Morgan Foundation grant to expand Ohio internship program
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and the Discovery Learning Research Center are expanding their Interns for Entrepreneurship program to place more students in high-tech startup companies in Northeast Ohio.
With a $150,000 grant from The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, Interns for Entrepreneurship (IfE) will expand outside Indiana by selecting 15 Purdue upperclassmen as 2012 Burton D. Morgan Interns to be matched with Northeast Ohio high-tech startups beginning this summer. A second group of 15 Purdue students will be selected for the 2013 program.
Purdue undergraduates from all majors are invited to apply for the Interns for Entrepreneurship program. To qualify, students must have a GPA of at least 2.8 and 60 or more credits. Deadline for applications is March 8. For more information, go to https://discoverypark.itap.purdue.edu/learningcenter/ifi/BDMorganInterns.cfm
"Interns for Entrepreneurship students drive economic development by fueling company growth through their contributions of energy, hard work, ideas and expertise," said Monica Shively, sustainability coordinator for Purdue's Interns for Indiana program, which operates the Interns for Entrepreneurship program in Ohio. "Interns gain firsthand understanding of entrepreneurship along with enhanced technical, professional and communication skills."
Company participants must be entrepreneurial, for-profit high-tech companies in Indiana or Northeast Ohio that can provide student interns with high-quality entrepreneurial experiences. Further, companies must demonstrate the potential to grow in a manner that would allow them to hire additional full-time college-educated employees in the near future.
Although most participating companies are younger than 10 years, qualified spinoffs from larger existing companies are also encouraged to apply.
"This grant continues and expands our program emphasis on supporting student interns working in entrepreneurial settings," said Deborah Hoover, president of The Burton D. Morgan Foundation. "We are gratified to see a wellspring of support from organizations and businesses in the region willing to play a role in creating these opportunities for young people."
The Purdue grant was part of nearly $660,000 in grants announced Wednesday (Feb. 7) by the Hudson, Ohio-based foundation to promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education in Northeast Ohio and support programs in Hudson and at charitable organizations serving the region.
Started in 2004, the Interns for Entrepreneurship and Interns for Indiana programs enhance student learning by facilitating practical hands-on experiences for all majors. Interns for Indiana, primarily funded by the Lilly Endowment, has matched nearly 500 Purdue students with internships at 160 Indiana startup companies and provided more than 200,000 combined hours of labor.
Purdue's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship is housed in a $7 million facility funded through The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, which was established by the late Burton D. Morgan, a 1938 Purdue graduate in mechanical engineering who started more than 50 businesses.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: Monica Shively, 765-496-1617, shivelmm@purdue.edu
Deborah Hoover, 330-655-1630, dhoover@bdmorganfdn.org
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