‘Paid’ Internship Programs

‘Paid’ Internship Programs

To graduate, most colleges require a student to complete an internship program; our local University of South Florida campuses, included. 

As the ‘Greenest Winery in America’ BHV has participated in and supported these internships for years. We believe that sharing our knowledge with the youth of today will help insure a successful future for both the student and for our community. If you own and operate a successful local business, we encourage you to contact the University campus nearest to you and become a member of their internship program.

With this Blog, we hope to open a dialog about how college interns are compensated for their time and contributions to the hosting business. Today, some businesses like BHV offer ‘Paid’ Internship programs. We believe that a student has worth and value and deserves to be compensated for their time working with us. However there are too many businesses that look upon their interns as a source of ‘Free Labor’. These types of businesses should be required to pay their interns or be purged from the Internship Program.

Most college students have accumulated a large backload of student debt. To expect the student to enrich any business with their ‘Free Labor’ should be unacceptable to us all. 

In the normal conduct of their business, all businesses are required to pay their employees for their work, even those employees in training. To make an exception for the college intern is both wrong and unfair. BHV calls upon our Local Universities and community to support only ‘Paid’ internships and to discontinue the unfair practice of not paying interns for their time and work.

We Thank You…..