Local · Trusted · Free
The Morning Impact — your neighborhood's most important stories, delivered every morning.
Community members can find internships and networking opportunities through the Allen Chamber Foundation, Allen Chamber of Commerce CEO Kyle Jacobson said.
The Allen Chamber Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by the Allen Chamber of Commerce in early February that is designed to support workforce development and local entrepreneurs.
“It's really opening up a new avenue for us to explore a new way of serving the local business community,” Jacobson said.
The details
The foundation has three different areas of focus. The first is internship matchmaking by identifying students from local school districts and colleges, and connecting them with industry opportunities as well as internships with businesses and employers in Allen, Jacobson said.
The second area of focus is existing workforce development for individuals who are already full-time employees or aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Our first initiative under that pillar is going to be a business incubator program where aspiring business owners, entrepreneurs and founders, can take an 8-week crash course on how to start and run a business,” Jacobson said. “The instructors for that [course] will all be area business leaders that are members of the chamber.”
The foundation is also prioritizing collecting and distributing data on current workforce trends to help both workforce members and employers prepare for the future, Jacobson said.
Looking ahead
The goal of the foundation is to prepare the next generation of business leaders for success, Jacobson said.
“I hope that we just see really strong alignment between all of the local education institutions and some of our top employers in the area, and that both parties are confident that the students are being well prepared for careers that are available, not just today, but in 5 years,” he said.
