by KYW's Steve Tawa
The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and City Hall are hoping to line up 2,000 young people for a paid summer internship program called "WorkReady Philadelphia."
Last year, more than a thousand 16-to-21-year old Philadelphians put in at least 20 hours a week during the summer. One of them, Shalea Nicholson, about to graduate from George Washington Carver High School, checked out engineering firm, Pennoni and Associates:
"Not only would I like to get a degree in engineering, because I'm interested in math and science, I would also like to be a lawyer."
Mayor Nutter is reaching out to business leaders to either offer a summer internship, which costs about $1600, or fund position at a non-profit organization:
"Some of you, in addition to what you're doing on your own, will be getting calls from me, because I have call time scheduled."
State representative Josh Shapiro of Montgomery County was scheduled to be at Philadelphia City Hall Tuesday, pushing legislation that would provide a tax credit for businesses that provide internships:
"...that company, or non-profit, would be able to write off 70% of the total cost of the internship for that youth."
The legislation calls fore $20 million in tax credits from The Commonwealth.
For more info, you can log onto workreadyphila.com, call 267-502-3800, or go to a guidance counselor or a principal's office.
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