UPPER CUMBERLAND — The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD) is working closely with Tennessee Tech University to recruit interns. Designed to offer skilled support to local businesses this program also provides students with practical work experience, growth and development opportunities.
“The interns in this program operate much like independent contractors, making it a great opportunity for local businesses to tackle hurdles that might be holding them back,” said Jodi Pitts, SBDC Small Business Specialist. “The program offers practical solutions, without the price tag. We’re really excited to have this tool to offer to our local businesses.”
Internship roles are assigned according to skillset, project requests and identified needs and resources of the requesting businesses. Examples of services available include marketing (social media platforms and marketing plans), web design, SEO, Google My Business, graphic design (print and digital), finance, event planning, digital content creation (blog, vlog, and video) and photography.
In turn, participating businesses will receive, at no cost, skilled interns who will receive work experience that directly aligns with their academic background or career goals. Businesses will complete an onboarding questionnaire to determine the need and scope of the project, areas of deficit and goals for student interns.
Interns will be compensated for 10-15 hours per week combined at assigned businesses. Businesses may request an intern by contacting the SBDC Intern Coordinator directly. Upon the completion of the internship, businesses will provide evaluations of student interns and the SBDC-TTU internship program.
While internship length may vary and be determined by project needs, SBDC notes that the
internship will not exceed two consecutive semesters. To date, this partnership has assisted 10 interns and 24 businesses/organizations. For more information, please contact Jodi Pitts by email at jpitts@tsbdc.org.
