PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Chamber of Commerce is hoping a new online tool will help bring a fresh crop of talent to the area as college students across the country make plans for the summer.
The chamber recently launched a new internship marketplace on its website to help connect students with businesses offering internships in their field.
“Education is at the top of the chamber’s priority list,” said Brittany Cole, chamber vice president of communications. “We know that to have a good workforce, we need to have good education.”
The program was created by the chamber’s 31st Leadership Bay class, with a mission to encourage prospective employment for college students in Bay County in the future.
“What we wanted to do was have a centralized location for college students to come and find an internship,” said Cole, who noted the chamber often receives calls from students seeking internship opportunities. “We want to bring these students in from all over the country and show them everything Bay County has to offer.”
The marketplace is a free service for chamber members interested in seeking interns for their businesses. Members can log on to www.PanamaCity.org/internships to enter any paid or unpaid internship opportunities to the marketplace.
The page launched about a month ago, and Cole said the response from the business community has been positive so far, with internship postings in fields ranging from medical to media.
“It’s good for businesses because they have good, quality students to work in their business,” Cole said. “I think it’s going to be very successful. We just want to get these students here because we have a lot to offer.”
Leadership Bay will present the program at the Bay County Chamber’s next First Friday event scheduled for June 6.