Digital Lakes, the statewide nonprofit business partnership designed to provide a platform to attract, develop, and retain top tech talent across industries, has announced an expanded statewide Micro Internship program for the summer of 2025.
Designed to provide college-bound high school students and college underclassmen with experience seeing technology-related roles up-close inside Michigan companies, students have an opportunity to spend one month inside three different Digital Lakes partner companies during the summer.
While there, they will be exposed to a variety of technology-related careers and workplace cultures, including meeting with “C-suite” executives before entering the most pivotal core of their academic curriculum.
What started with 24 students at seven companies in 2023 now has reached 188 students, including 84 students this summer at more than 20 companies. Digital Lakes selected the 2025 class from 225 applicants, representing 15 high schools and 25 colleges from eight states.
Forty-one percent of the class is female, and 52 percent represent minority groups.
The paid internships include time inside metro Detroit companies, as well as West Michigan and Mid-Michigan-based companies.
Participating companies include:
- AM General
- American Axle & Manufacturing
- Arkk Foods
- BAE Systems
- Complete Cos.
- Consumers Energy
- Delta Dental
- DewPoint Technologies
- DTE Energy
- GDLS
- HAP
- Lucerne
- Magna (Detroit area and West Michigan)
- OpTech
- Piston Group
- Wasaeyabek
“One of the best stories coming out of the Micro-Internship program is what we hear from the students themselves,” says Jennifer Champion, director of Digital Lakes. “Eighty-one percent of those who complete the program say they’re more likely to stay in Michigan to build a career after their internship.
“Eighty-three percent say they would be interested in a longer opportunity with the companies they saw up close. That shows us this program has great potential to build the state’s tech workforce.”
Started by a group of Michigan-based chief information officers from a variety of sectors who noted nearly 40 percent of college graduates who studied to become IT professionals were leaving Michigan for the coasts and bigger cities, Digital Lakes now serves as a cohesive organization tying together the regional tech community and publicly establishing Michigan as place for tech careers.
As IT hubs operate successfully around the country, Digital Lakes is partnering with corporations and organizations to advance IT hiring in Michigan.
The organization is “squarely focused on competing with other regions by elevating existing programs that have been formed in recent years to grow high-tech talent, while filling gaps that can help keep professionals here in technology careers.”
Digital Lakes of Michigan was formed in 2019. For more information, visit https://digital-lakes.org/.
