“This grant from the Georgia Department of Labor greatly expands the opportunity for students to participate in the Georgia County Internship Program,” said ACCG Incoming Executive Director Ross King.  “This program will hopefully entice young people to consider working for county government or running for elected office.  If they decide not to consider either option they will at a minimum be better informed citizens.”

 

The GCIP was developed by ACCG in partnership with the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) to provide internship opportunities in various county departments around the state and recruit college students to participate in them. The internship program is open to undergraduate and graduate students in a wide variety of college majors.

 

"These are great opportunities for students to see how government works," said ARCHE President Michael A. Gerber. "And there are no better ambassadors than our students to help local officials understand the caliber of education at Georgia's private and public colleges and universities."

 

"We're pleased to partner with ACCG and ARCHE to provide the funds for this grant, which will create opportunities for Georgia youth to gain valuable experience in real-life work environments," said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. "They will begin developing good work ethics that will benefit them throughout their lives, while being exposed to the opportunities that careers in local government offer to not only earn a good living, but to serve the public at the same time." 

 

The program launched earlier this year and is currently recruiting for summer positions. Although the program is in its very early stages, twelve counties have already signed up to participate with over thirty-five job listings throughout the state. These positions will allow students to participate in many aspects of county government and offer a variety of projects such as creating and updating county guidebooks, creating websites and print media, conducting finance and tax projects, collecting water samples, designing building layouts, updating and collecting GIS and CAD data, assisting with record management, and supporting public safety projects.

 

“The Department of Labor understands our vision for this program and shares our interest in civic engagement for young people,” said King.  “We are actively encouraging counties to register opportunities for summer internships and will work with ARCHE to dramatically expand our student outreach efforts as well.”

 

For more information on the Georgia County Internship Program or to view current internship opportunities, go to www.georgiacountyinternships.org.

 

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The Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) provides leadership enhancement, cost-efficient services and public policy development and advocacy on behalf of Georgia's county officials and their local communities. For more information on ACCG, go to www.accg.org.

 

The Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) brings together 20 of the Atlanta region's public and private colleges and universities. ARCHE builds awareness of the size, scope, impact and value of higher education and helps members share strengths through cooperative programs such as cross registration for courses and library sharing. Founded in 1938, ARCHE's membership also includes six affiliated libraries and 13 corporate and nonprofit community partners (including ACCG). Visit www.atlantahighered.org for more infomation on ARCHE, its members and its research reports.