The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce has a grant from the U.S. Chamber to create the Wake Forest Career Readiness Academy, which will guide area students to learn the skills required to be tomorrow’s successful employees. Along with classroom training, on-the-job internships will complete each student’s experience.
The Chamber Foundation is seeking the support of area businesses and asking them to host a high school intern for a semester during the 2019/2020 school year. Businesses that participate can benefit in many ways: Interns provide an extra pair of hands to help with projects; they can be groomed into a potential future employee; and businesses will have access to professional HR consultants and attorneys at no charge.
While all types of businesses are encouraged to offer an internship, top categories needed include law, engineering, physical therapy, medical fields, and graphic design. Internships can be unpaid or paid.
To answer questions regarding the responsibility of hosting an intern, or address concerns about the expectations and requirements, two information sessions are planned. Experts will be on hand to share in-depth information on the entire program. Both will be held at Wake Electric in downtown Wake Forest.
The information sessions will be held at Wake Electric Membership Corp., 100 South Franklin Street, on Tuesday, June 4, and Tuesday, June 18, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Register for an information session by emailing wfcareerreadinessacademy@gmail.com or visit them online at wfcra.org.
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The Wake Forest Chamber’s Community Raffle is back for its second year! Presented by Edward Jones, the raffle will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of Eastern North Carolina, the Wake Forest Chamber and other community civic groups and nonprofits.
Tickets are $50 each and only 1,500 tickets will be sold. A total of $15,000 in prizes will be awarded. The top prize is $10,000 cash. Other prizes include: $3,000 cash, a $1,000 lottery ticket basket, a $500 lottery ticket basket and $500 cash.
The special promotion is buy 3 tickets, get one free. Tickets may be purchased at the Wake Forest Chamber at 350 South White Street, from a chamber board member or ambassador, or online at https://go.rallyup.com/wfcommunityraffle.
You do not need to be present to win but you must be 18 years or older to buy a ticket. Winning tickets will be drawn August 15, 2019 during Business After Hours.
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A group of local investors has announced the second year of a program intended to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit brought on by shows like Shark Tank. Called Accelerate Wake Forest, the initiative was inspired by similar programs in other towns.
Area inventors, entrepreneurs, and business owners hoping to start or expand will have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of investors in front of an audience. If an idea appeals to one or more of the investors, they will offer advice and mentorship for free, or financial backing in exchange for a percentage of the business. After the event, any further details and negotiations between the investor and the entrepreneur to complete the deal will be confidential. The 2018 program resulted in investments ranging from $2,000 to $600,000 in a variety of businesses. Accelerate Wake Forest follows up on a Wake Forest Rotary Club-sponsored program, Launch Wake Forest, which provides training and mentorships to current and aspiring entrepreneurs.
