Internship initiative to gight brain drain

In the old days, summer internships were secured through a parent's colleagues or friends of the family and consisted of little more than fetching coffee and stuffing envelopes.

Things have changed.

The Indiana InternNet-an Internet-based, one-stop shop for listing and finding internshipshopes to change the way students and employers hook up. Based on the rules of the program, InternNet is also helping to ensure that summer jobs consist of more than running errands for the boss.

But the motives for starting InternNet are a bit more selfish.

"The business community had a high level of frustration with not being able to find and retain qualified employees," said John MyrIand, president of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, the organization responsible for getting InternNet off the ground.

Central Indiana has been fighting a highly publicized battle against the so called "brain drain"-the tendency for Indiana's college graduates to leave the state for perceived greener pastures. After extensive research, Myrland found that giving students, and employers, increased access to internships could be a tool for helping to solve both issues.