Mar. 12—LA GRANDE — A local company has partnered with businesses around Union County to offer internships for community members.

The goal of Eastern Oregon's WORKS internship program is to encourage people, especially younger individuals, to stay in the community once they find employment and resources for professional development.

The WORKS internship program began in 2022 in Union County, but expanded this year to include Umatilla County. The program recruits interns for employers, and the application process for interns is a single application for all available internships in the applicant's county.

EO WORKS has partnered with Woodgrain, the city of La Grande, Cooper Auto Sales, Goss Motors and GO-STEM to provide internships for people 16 and over. Some internships do require that applicants are 17 or older. There is no age limit for internship candidates.

"There is no age cut-off, applications are open for college students, as well as the general community. We encourage anyone of any age to apply as long as they meet the minimum age requirements," WorkSource Business and Services Representative Jeremy Robertson said.

For this summer in Union County, there are 18 internships currently open for applications.

Mentors who have partnered with the WORKS program are eager for interns. Ty Stevenett, a human resources generalist with Woodgrain in La Grande, said increasing the efficiency of the company has been an ongoing project for many years.

"Our internship is an inventory position. The intern will catalog supplies and parts," he said. "This will teach them organizational skills and will help Woodgrain operate more efficiently which has been an ongoing project for a long time. Interns will leave with organizational skills that will help them in future careers."

Internship Coordinator Kasi Cooper stated how the internship program benefits both intern and employer.

"The program is really great. We handle the recruiting process for the employer and we are a WorkSource partner which allows us to offer additional services and resources for interns and applicants," she said.

EO WORKS travels to schools and promotes the internship services by providing resume workshops to students, according to Cooper.

"Some schools are holding off on applying for internships until WorkSource helps their students develop their resumes before students apply for the positions," Robertson said.

For applicants who do not land an internship EO WORKS connects them to their local WorkSource office.

"For people who do not get an internship, we still want to help and hear from them. We ask for feedback on what industries people would like to work in, and we take this information into consideration for future partnerships with local businesses," Cooper said. "We really want to hear back from people who do not get an internship so that we can learn from them. We put them in contact with a local WorkSource office so that they can get assistance in finding a job."

Jillian Hoefer is a reporter for The Observer. Contact her at jhoefer@lagrandeobserver.com.