Adopt-a-Business Student Intern Application

Please note that the intake portion of the Adopt-a-Business program is open for the Fall 2024 semester. If you are interested in participating, you are encouraged to register for the 2024 Fall semester before September 20th, 2024.

The Adopt-a-Business program is designed to allow you to engage with real, local businesses by providing free support in content marketing and social media. 

You will be assigned to a team of 2 with supervision from a Small Business Development Council Counselor and/or a Geneseo School of Business faculty member. You will be working with 2 clients per semester.

Each program is designed to last a school semester. In the fall, you will be asked to take training and prepare for the engagement in September. Your program with the client runs from October to December. In the Spring, you would be asked to take training and prepare in January. Your program with the client runs from February to April. 

Note: You will be assigned a client once you have completed the required training.

The program engagement consists of the following:

  • Client visits (virtual or in-person)
  • Content marketing/social media audit (your team will assess their businesses across several different marketing channels following our client audit guide)
  • Content marketing/social media recommendations (you will provide recommendations based on the audit following our recommendation format)
  • Content marketing/social media work (you will select a prioritized list of work with your clients to work on for the duration of the program and perform that work)
  • Content marketing/social media review (you will provide a progress report at the end of the term on what you have completed in relationship to the content marketing/social media audit).

Note: Our program is limited to providing content marketing and social media content services like posts or reels. You will not be responsible for marketing strategies, logo or identity development, search engine optimization services, advertising, website development, or sales. If your client requests these things, we will refer them to an Advisor from the Small Business Development Center.

Your clients must approve all work before they can be released to the public.

At the end of the program duration, you may elect to continue in the program for another semester or end the engagement.

Student Requirements

To support your clients, you must meet bi-weekly for one hour on a convenient day and time for both of you. 

You are required to meet with the Adopt-a-Business program team for an hour once a week. The time and date are to be determined.

You are eligible to receive three credits after successfully completing one semester. These credits may be applied to your electives within your major or minor. To complete the internship for three credits, you must perform 120 hours of service to your clients for the semester. Your training time is included in this 120 hours.

Traveling on-site to see your customers has several benefits, but it is not required every week. You can use virtual meetings as an alternative. We highly recommend visiting your customers once a month. Their locations will be largely within Livingston and surrounding counties.

Qualifications

Here are some of the specific AaB student qualifications:

  • Enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program at SUNY Geneseo, with an interest in English, communications, business administration, sociology, economics, and marketing
  • Interest in community / small business development
  • Excellent working knowledge of how to tailor content and manage audiences across multiple social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Yelp, Trip Advisor Instagram, Google My Business, etc.)
  • Proven ability to meet deadlines, work under pressure, and deliver quality outputs
  • A high degree of responsibility, maturity, and emotional intelligence
  • Seeking Junior and Senior applicants, but sophomores may apply

Training & Preparation

Students will participate in consulting, content marketing, and social media for small business training programs. The program training will start at the beginning of each semester. You will be required to complete the training program before participating with clients.

Note: You will not be assigned a client until your training program is completed.

Responsibilities & Expectations

As part of a successful program and to meet the requirements of the internship, you are expected to do the following:

  • Attend weekly AaB meetings
  • Attend all their client meetings (usually every other week)
  • Conduct a content marketing/social media audit
  • Create and review client recommendations with the AaB team and advisors.
  • Perform agreed-upon content marketing and social media
  • Submit client status reports to the AaB student coordinator and AaB administrator
  • Do an end-of-semester presentation of their AaB work

To apply, please click the following link, fill out your information, and submit.

Adopt-a-Business Student Application

If you have any issues registering or would simply like more information regarding the program, please email adoptabusiness@geneseo.edu or contact Professor Rider directly at mrider@geneseo.edu.