The Devils Lake Region Partnership Internship Program grew out of the Governor’s ndintern program and the desire of economic development groups in the region to expose our businesses to interns and the interns to our businesses.

The regional partnership has been in existence since 2002 and includes the Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Forward Devils Lake/Ramsey County, Rolla Job Development Authority and the Towner County Economic Development Corporation. The group first came together to work on labor availability issues (we share the same labor market) and grew to a marketing partnership that markets the region to targeted businesses, an active contact program with alumni from the region who have left the state and now the internship program.

Our goal was to place up to ten North Dakota college students in businesses in our region. The program offered a system to match students and employers and up to $1750 or 50% of the cost of the intern, whichever is less, per company.

The Devils Lake Region Partnership Internship program presented the business internship opportunity to students throughout the North Dakota University System (NDUS) and posted on the ndinterns.com website. Prospective interns were directed to contact the business, who established the interview process, wage scale and work hours, and made the hiring decision.

The program is designed to provide students with job experiences that are significant and valuable and that further personal and educational growth while providing the business with an opportunity to involve students in their work and assist them in recognizing the opportunities for careers in this part of the state.

We reached our goal of 10 interns and businesses participating:  Mollers, Inc. of York - accounting; Towner County Medical Center, Cando - business office/medical records; First State Bank of Cando, banking; Thrifty White Drug, Devils Lake - pharmacist; Camp Grafton, Devils Lake - landscape/horticulture.  Presentation Medical Center , Rolla – nurse intern; United Telephone – subscriber management system re-design, Northern Crops Marketing – web design and MDG Development – feasibility study development, Langdon. Simple Threads, Rock Lake , is using an intern to implement some landscape design for 40+ hours.

It is interesting to note that all our students are ND natives, but 3 are students at out-of-state colleges. 

Towner, Benson and Rolette Counties received a $17,000 grant from the Center of North America REAP (Rural Economic Area Partnership) Zone.  It was used to provide the wage match for each intern located in Towner, Rolette or Benson Counties .  Cavalier County and Devils Lake are providing their match through local economic development funds.  In the case of Camp Grafton , they couldn't receive the wage subsidy, but still wanted to participate in the program.

Each business did a mid-term evaluation of their intern.  The evaluations have been complimentary of the students and of the program. The evaluators did a good job of suggesting where students could make improvements or select coursework that would improve their skills for the particular job they are doing this summer.

The Partnership hosted an event that brought 7 of the ten interns and their supervisors together at the NDSU Research Extension Center in Langdon. We spent some time listening to the interns relate their experiences working in the region this summer and from the businesses.

Most had heard about the program through word-of-mouth – only one through ndinterns.com. They appreciated the opportunity to work in the region but pushed us to offer more and get the word out better. The businesses spoke of the savings they are finding by using interns – not just in wages, but in costs that would have been incurred had they needed to use consultants to do some of the same work the interns are doing. Both groups said they are learning from each other and urged us to get the word out on the program earlier than this past year. The businesses see this as a way to start grooming replacements for the workforce that is getting near retirement age, especially in the banking and healthcare industries.