Funding Targets Small Companies With Big Plans

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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana University’s Kelley School of Business is looking to help small and mid-sized Hoosier businesses go global. The school is offering funding to help companies pay summer interns in international programs.
The IU Center for International Business Education and Research program matches students with companies looking to enter new markets or expand international efforts for eight-to-12-week summer internships. The CIBER funding could cover up to 50 percent of wage costs for summer interns. The school says companies that combine that funding with support from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s Employment Aid Readiness Network program could receive 100 percent reimbursement for intern wages.
Indiana INTERNnet says the programs help provide a level playing field for smaller Indiana companies to enter international markets. The funding is available to companies with fewer than 500 employees.
Kelley clinical professor of international business Roberto Garcia says students benefit in a number of ways from the program. In addition to the internship experience, he says the effort helps firms recruit talented full-time employees after graduation. He says companies, in turn, benefit from student interns who "bring a fresh perspective to the industry and businesses and who are willing to work hard to prove themselves."