The 7th Annual Lehigh Valley Internship Summit was held in July and gathered leaders from across the Lehigh Valley in business and higher education to share best practices on hosting internship programs and to build connections. 
One of LVEDC’s top priorities is building partnerships to create strategies that develop talent for the region’s employers. That work includes connecting educators with employers to foster internships.
Here are five key takeaways from this year’s event:
Multi-Faceted Internships are Priority
In her keynote address, speaker Carly Chase, an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School and a Vice President at U.S. News & World Report, highlighted the main elements students are seeking in an internship.
Chase pointed to experiences like opportunities to network with key stakeholder including shadowing experienced professionals and career coaching, along with things more traditionally associated with internships such as skill-building and the possibility of the internship leading to a full-time position with the company.
She said only about 15% of interns prefer an exclusively remote work environment.
Use AI as Entry Point
The topic of artificial intelligence and how it is changing the landscape of business and education was explored during the panel discussion, “Interns and AI: Navigating the Future.”
Lehigh University Professor Moo Choo Chuah described how the technology is being implemented on campus not as a crutch but a tool for personalized learning.
“We customize ChatGPT so that it doesn't provide you with solutions, but it provides you with leads and guides you to come up with a reviewing process so that you can answer the question on your own,” Chuah said.
According to Amit Parmar, CEO of Cliquify, the speed with which AI is being incorporated into the day-to-day processes of a business means that the willingness of interns to learn AI models becomes a differentiating factor when making hiring decisions.
Building an Internship Program Pays Dividends
The creation of an internship program can be an intimidating undertaking for smaller businesses. But having a smaller staff should not deter smaller companies from building an internship program.
“Once it's all set up, it's not as much work to do it each year, because you already have the process in place,” stated Christina Andersen, Human Resources Manager at Gross McGinley, LLP. That was the message that Andersen and her colleague, Managing Director, Deb Faulkinberry had for attendees of their presentation, “Internship Program Kickoff: Strategy, Structure and Success.”
Not only do interns do valuable work while gaining skills in their chosen field, but companies gain insight into onboarding processes that they can utilize company wide.
A strong program can help a company build a brand as a desirable place to work, Faulkinberry and Anderson said.
Utilizing Internship Programs to Build Talent Pipeline
With 11 colleges and universities in the region, the Lehigh Valley provides a talent-rich environment for area businesses. Those with robust internship programs have yielded valuable hires as students graduate from intern to employee.
As part of the “Shaping Professional Interns: A Manager’s Role” panel discussion, Sharon Castano, Senior Recruiting Specialist at PPL Corporation, shared how the organization views this important opportunity.
“It's an internship-to-job opportunity. We're hoping to keep them [interns] and build a talent pipeline at the same time. So, as we're bringing them in, we're interviewing them as if they're going to work for us.”
That mentality is key to forming strong connections with interns at the onset of their internship. It helps create a structure that continues through the end of the internship and hopefully into full-time employment.
A Valuable Investment
In her presentation, Andrea Reger, Manager of Career Navigation at St. Luke’s University Health Network, detailed the importance of valuing the internship experience.
For large organizations, like St. Luke’s, opportunities for interns to network with current employees who were once in their shoes provides an invaluable experience. “Our goal is that every intern leaves with a really good understanding of what the Network as a whole looks like for career paths and has some specific advice based on their individual career interests so they can decide what they want to do next,” Reger said.
This year’s Lehigh Valley Internship Summit saw more than 150 attendees, a record audience for the event and an indicator of the value the region holds for the relationship between education and business. As the need for skills in new modalities, such as AI, grows, businesses in partnership with our area institutions are working together to build the talent of tomorrow. 
Crayola was Presenting Sponsor of the 7th Annual Internship Summit. DeSales University was Host Sponsor. Moravian University was a Gold Sponsor. Silver Sponsors were Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania; Muhlenberg College; Northampton Community College; St. Luke's University Health Network; Univest Financial; and Victaulic.
LVEDC’s talent work is made possible by the generous support of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Summit participants received the latest edition of the Internship Resource Guide, published annually by LVEDC to share information about internship programs, how to create and evaluate a program, and current trends in programs. It includes a directory of the region’s colleges, universities, and career and technical schools.
(Photos by Marco Calderon Photography)