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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is offering its help in the economic recovery planning of Mid-East Commission through its new internship program, the Carolina Economic Recovery Corps.

The program sent Charessa Sawyer to Washington for 10 weeks to provide assistance to the Mid-East Commission, where she is working closely with the town and city managers for Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties. Sawyer, a recent graduate of the UNC School of Social Work, received a master’s degree in social work and a nonprofit management and leadership certification in May.

Sawyer is helping the municipalities under the Mid-East Commission work on economic recovery, primarily grant writing and developing programs for rural populations. Sawyer says she will seek grant sources and find more funding for the programs she will work on.

One of the highlights of the internship, Sawyer says, “is working with smaller areas. We provide them with the resources for their own development. I like that we are focusing on the areas that need it [funding] most.”

Sawyer says that she also looks forward to the hands-on experience she will gain by working with and promoting communication between independent agencies.

Sawyer will also participate in an ongoing project with the other interns that will involve inventorying each of the Council of Governments’ funds from the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, part of the national economic stimulus package passed in February. The project will make it easier for the COGs to find out which grants they are eligible for and which municipalities they will compete against to get them.

Sawyer is one of nine interns who are participating in the Recovery Corps this summer. The program, funded by the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development and directed by the Office of Economic and Business Development, was implemented by the UNC as one response to the Recovery Act.

Seven of the other participants in the program are taking on individual projects at each of their locations. The interns have been assigned to different councils of government, including those from the areas of Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Research Triangle, Rutherfordton, Wilmington and Wilson. There they work with their assigned COGs to come up with economic plans unique to each area. The ninth intern is assigned to the North Carolina League of Municipalities in a coordinating role.

The interns, chosen from a pool of more than 60 well-qualified applicants, include students and graduates of the UNC School of Law, the department of city and regional planning in the College of Arts and Sciences and the UNC School of Social Work.

After the finalists were chosen, they were required to complete an intensive day of training before they could start their work June 1. The training, put on with the help of the N.C. League of Municipalities and the state Council of Governments Association, consisted of instruction on the state’s goals for the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act and presentations that focused on grants that were important to the state. Grant writing for environmentally efficient energy, green jobs and large-scale broadband access were some of the topics.

Office of Economic and Business Development contacts: Jesse White, (919)-843-5454, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Joshua Levy, (919) 843-5453, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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