NNIC Secures Major Grant | South Africans Arrive
February 12, 2010
PHOTO ALBUM: South African Young Entrepreneur Group arrives at the airport in Reno
The Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) was awarded a grant in the amount of $352,000 by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to host 25 South African entrepreneurs over a two-year period. NNIC, which is a sponsored project of the University of Nevada, Reno, will collaborate with Sierra Nevada College (SNC) to provide internships for two sets of 12 to 13 young entrepreneurs.
The first set of entrepreneurs is scheduled to arrive in Reno mid-February and we are looking for both internship providers and home hosts for the 12 visitors. The types of businesses we seek are in the following areas: IT and communication, land surveying/GIS, tourism and hospitality, film production, fashion/clothes designing, carpentry and environmental conservation. Internships will last about five weeks and visitors will intern Mondays through Wednesdays each week from February 22-March 26. The remaining two days, the interns are studying to receive an entrepreneurship certificate through Sierra Nevada College.
The benefits for hosting a South African in a company are manifold; the young entrepreneurs will bring fresh ideas and creative energy to learn about American entrepreneurship to the workplace. Additionally, a select number of American internship mentors will be eligible for travel to South Africa in September of this year, for a 10-day all-expense paid trip to meet up again with their interns and learn about the South African business climate.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), South Africa has the lowest entrepreneurial activity rate of all developing countries. It also has the lowest start-up of new companies. The Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) hopes to increase the understanding of the links between entrepreneurial activity and free markets and the importance of transparency and accountability of business and government.
For more information, please contact:
Carina A. Black, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Northern Nevada International Center
Phone: 775.784.7515, extension 221
Email
