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Internship program helps Ohio companies expand their exporting business
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Stephanie Wood’s interest in international business piqued while studying abroad in Italy.
When the Salem native and Youngstown State University student returned to campus, she decided to pursue an internship program that helps Ohio companies expand their exporting business.
Today, Wood has a YSU degree and a new job focused on international business for a Geneva test and measurement equipment company where she worked during the past semester.
“I have a job; I just accepted it,” Wood said.
She isn’t alone. More than 40 students, including nine from YSU, spent a semester at Ohio companies, working to complete their college degrees and, in some cases, coming out of school with job offers in hand.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s really worth it,” Wood said. “You learn a lot, and you meet a lot of great people.”
Wood joined her fellow interns in the recent 2016 Ohio Export Internship Program for showcase event at the Ohio Statehouse.
The program is a partnership of the state, YSU and Ohio State University. More than 140 students have completed internships to date, with 17 offered full-time jobs and 34 participating in extended internships as a result.
Those students also helped generate $19 million in export sales for the Ohio companies where they worked, according to statistics compiled by the Ohio Development Services Agency.
YSU students have been involved in the program for two years. They’ve organized trade shows in other countries, completed market research and worked on projects in Europe and Central America, said Mousa Kassis, export assistance director at the Small Business Development Center at YSU.
“The students get exposure for international business and hands-on experience in doing the whole process of exporting, from receiving the purchase order all the way to compliance,” he said. “They do the whole process of exporting.”
YSU President Jim Tressel, who spoke at the event, added, “Our students get the opportunity to work with companies and go out and get experiences that you can’t get in a classroom, make a difference for companies as well. ... They’ve had great experiences. Some have gotten jobs out of it. But it’s really good for the companies, too – bringing in new talent, fresh talent, different sets of eyes.”
The internship program adds to the services offered to Mahoning Valley companies through the SBDC at YSU, said Patricia Veisz, director of the center.
“In any given year, we may have 125 to 200 students that are touching company projects in our area,” she said. “They get to take their education and apply it to real companies, whether they’re small, existing, growing. It could be marketing, it could be financial modeling, it could be research.”