Your business can help guide local teens toward the right career path
Through Flint & Genesee Education & Talent’s Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) program you can hire area students to work for you at half or less of your normal hiring and employment costs. Not only does this provide a competitive edge for your organization, the added bonus is that the students you’re connected with have been well-schooled and are ready to jump into the workplace.
By hiring a SYI applicant, Genesee County for profit businesses have the opportunity to employ teens at 50 percent of the normal hiring costs incurred during the first 90 days of employment. Genesee County nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to employ teens at little or no cost.
Get Involved
2024 SYI Request for Proposal (RFP) process is now closed.
Check back in early spring 2025 to submit a nonprofit request for proposal, or complete the form below to receive the RFP when it becomes available. For profit organizations may contact Dawn Bye at (810) 600-1413 or dbye@flintandgenesee.org for more information at any time throughout the year.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a technical assistance session with the Education & Talent team, please contact Dawn Bye at (810) 600-1413 or email dbye@flintandgenesee.org. Technical assistance will be offered at any time to any organization considering application to SYI.
How it works
Education & Talent’s SYI program provides funding to area for profit businesses to hire Genesee County teens, ages 14-18, in grades 9 through 12. Simply apply by downloading our online business application at any point throughout the year.
If you are a nonprofit organization, the funding is distributed through a competitive proposal process. Requests for Proposals are issued every January and acceptance decisions are made by April. SYI funds generally cover all teen employment costs and often cover limited program expenses as well.
Each year hundreds of students are employed for eight to 10 weeks. Since the inception of the program in 2006, Summer Youth Initiative has put more than 2,000 teens into jobs all across Genesee County.
Teens are hired during the SYI Job Fair and throughout the year, which helps pair teens with job opportunities at local organizations and companies. Jobs range from summer day camp counselors, general office duties, reading assistants, beautification and gardening assistants, library assistants and the food bank, just to name a few.
All SYI teen applicants are successful graduates of TeenQuest, a pre-employment leadership training program designed to teach important job skills necessary to get and keep a job. SYI teens come to the workplace prepared to hit the ground running!
