Businesses: Internship Wages AND NOW Reimbursement for STEM positions is Available

Businesses: Internship Wage Reimbursement Program Expands

The Fergus Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has been awarded a grant to help cover the wages of youth interns in 2025. The Chamber will receive up to $35,556 from the Future Ready Workforce Grant, a program funded by the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Minnesota Chamber Foundation. The grant program is designed to support businesses that offer paid internships in high-demand career areas like nursing, commercial driver's licenses (CDL), manufacturing, construction, and more. These funds are available to employers in the Fergus Falls area.

In addition to this grant, the Fergus Falls Chamber will also be administering STEM grant funds through Lakes Country Service Cooperative (LCSC), which will specifically cover jobs related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields). This grant fund has approximately $50,000 to be administered for student supports, internship wages related specifically to these fields, and employer supports (such as onboarding, tools, training, micro internships, and/or job shadowing experiences). The STEM funds have a broader reach than the other fund - it will serve the nine-county region that LCSC serves. Funds will be available to employers in the LCSC service area. 

Businesses interested in applying for either grant can use the link on the Chamber home page to register (FergusFalls.com). The funds will be given away until all of the funds are depleted, so please sign up! For more information on these funds, contact Lisa Workman at the Chamber (218-736-6951).