FIND YOUR KIND with the greater lafayette intern experience!
The fastest way to lose future employees? Let them spend a summer disconnected from the community.
Most interns don’t leave because of the job. They leave because Lafayette never felt like home.
Lafayette doesn’t lose young talent because companies fail to hire great interns. It loses them because interns finish the summer without ever feeling connected to the community around them. By the time a full-time offer arrives, Chicago and Indianapolis already feel more familiar, more exciting, and more like home.
That’s an expensive problem. Replacing an entry-level employee can cost employers between $5,000 and $7,500 in recruiting costs, onboarding time, lost productivity and turnover. Yet many retention decisions are shaped long before graduation, during the internship experience itself.
The Greater Lafayette Intern Experience helps employers solve that problem for $100 per intern.
what interns experience
The Greater Lafayette Intern Experience (GLIE) is a summer program run by Greater Lafayette Commerce that helps interns build meaningful connections to the region through five structured events held throughout the summer. Interns meet other young professionals, explore the community, connect with local businesses and experience Lafayette beyond the office.
The goal: help interns picture a future here. Because interns who feel connected to a community are significantly more likely to return to it after graduation.
Built for employers
GLIE is designed to strengthen your internship program without creating more work for your team. If you already run an internship program, GLIE adds the piece most companies struggle to provide consistently: community connection. If you don’t have a formal internship program, GLIE gives you a ready-made summer experience you can immediately offer recruits.
Either way, registration is simple. Employers register interns directly, and interns receive access to all five summer events.
Chicago and Indianapolis get talent Lafayette developed.
Every summer, Lafayette competes for the same talent pool and loses a share of it not to better salaries or stronger offers, but to familiarity. Interns go where they feel like they belong.
Communities across Indiana have reached the same conclusion. Fort Wayne runs a comparable program. So do others. The data points the same direction: interns who experience a community are more likely to stay in it.
A small investment with a measurable upside
For $100 per intern, GLIE helps employers:
- Increase the likelihood interns return after graduation
- Improve the overall internship experience
- Strengthen recruiting competitiveness
- Reduce early-career turnover risk
- Introduce interns to the broader Lafayette community
- Build long-term regional talent pipelines
Compared to the cost of replacing even one entry-level employee, it’s one of the simplest talent retention investments an employer can make.
INTERNING IN GREATER LAFAYETTE THIS SUMMER?
Most internship summers look the same. You show up, you do the work, you leave. You might make a few friends. You probably don’t see much of the city. You go home in August with a resume line and not much else.
The Greater Lafayette Intern Experience exists because that’s not good enough. This is an all-access pass to a community that has a lot more going on than most people expect and a program designed to make sure you get to experience it.
This summer, you’ll explore the city alongside hundreds of interns from dozens of universities, meet people across industries and get a feel for what life in Greater Lafayette could look life if you accept a job offer here.
Greater Lafayette is yours this summer. The lineup is below. Show up, see what this place is about and find your kind.
A summer to remember!
upcoming events
May 29 @ 3pm: Summer Intern Launch
The Greater Lafayette Intern Experience kicks off on May 29, from 3–6 PM at the Ross–Ade Stadium South End Zone.
This high-energy event will welcome interns from across the region and introduce them to the Greater Lafayette community and the summer programming ahead. The event will feature employer information booths, light appetizers, a welcome program, lots of networking and giveaways.
Interns will also enjoy a special appearance from Purdue Pete, creating a fun and memorable start to the summer
June 12 @ 3pm: Paddle & chill on the wildcat
The Greater Lafayette Intern Experience Canoe Trip is scheduled for June 12, with shuttle times beginning at 3PM. We’re offering interns a fun and relaxing way to explore the outdoors while connecting with their peers.
Interns can enjoy a scenic paddle down the river with canoe rentals available for two people, as well as single kayaks. Snacks will be provided for participants.
In the event of inclement weather, the group will shift to an evening of indoor fun at Malibu Jack’s Lafayette. This event offers a perfect mix of adventure, networking, and summer fun.
June 18 @: Lunch & Learn w/ Lucas Woody
What makes someone choose where to build their life and their career?
This Lunch & Learn is a guided dialogue between interns and business leaders designed to answer that question from both sides.
Interns will share what they’re looking for in a community and workplace and ask leaders how to navigate those decisions.
Business leaders will share what they’re looking for in young talent and ask interns what it takes to attract and retain them.
The goal is to help both groups gain clarity on what creates the right fit for their future, their organization, and their community.
Facilitated by Coach Woody, a multi-business owner, entrepreneurship lecturer at Purdue University and public speaker, this session is designed to bring out honest perspectives, real questions and meaningful takeaways.
jULY 27 @ 11am: Explore downtown Lafayette
The Downtown Excursion is scheduled for Saturday, June 27 and will give interns the opportunity to experience the energy and culture of downtown Lafayette.
The day will begin with interns exploring the Lafayette Farmers Market and Summer on the Square from 8 AM–12:30 PM, where they can stop by the information booth to receive a free limited-edition farmers market tote bag and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of local vendors, food, and music.
The main portion of the event will begin at 11 AM with interns gathering at the Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette. From there, participants will explore downtown through a scavenger hunt-style experience highlighting local businesses, events, and festivals. The day will conclude back at Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette with giveaways, activities, and vouchers encouraging interns to continue exploring and supporting downtown businesses.
July 10 @ 6pm: Closing night at Loeb Stadium
Our Finale will take place on July 10, at Loeb Stadium during a Lafayette Aviators game, with the first pitch at 7 PM. The intern celebration will begin at 6 PM, giving participants time to connect and enjoy the evening before the game begins.
Interns will gather in a reserved suite space featuring ballpark favorites such as hot dogs, burgers, chips, popcorn, and soft drinks. This fun and relaxed event will serve as the perfect way to wrap up the summer—celebrating the connections made, experiences gained, and the vibrant community that makes Greater Lafayette a great place to live and work.
connect with the experience
Don’t miss a moment of the summer intern experience! From event updates to behind-the-scenes highlights, we’re sharing it all on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow us to stay connected all summer long—and beyond.
why greater lafayette?
Greater Lafayette is the kind of place you come for a summer and start doing the math on staying. It ranked No. 1 in the country for emerging housing markets. The Wall Street Journal ran the numbers. The average commute is 15 minutes. The median home price is around $206,000. You can afford to live here on an entry-level salary, which is not something you can say about most places worth working.
The work is here. Subaru builds every Outback sold in America in Lafayette. GE Aerospace assembles jet engines for the Boeing 737 MAX here. Saab builds sections of the U.S. Air Force’s next training aircraft a few miles from Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. Caterpillar builds engines powering data centers and oil rigs on six continents. Franciscan Health and Indiana University Health Arnett anchor one of the region’s fastest-growing industries.
Then, there’s the rest of it. A food scene shaped by residents from 130 countries. More than 50 parks. Thirteen miles of river trail. A zoo. Live music. Farmers markets. A Frank Lloyd Wright house. Summer nights at a ballpark downtown. Big 10 football in the fall. The kind of social life that forms naturally when 50,000 students and a young city share the same zip code.
All kinds end up here. Find your kind here.
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Get connected in greater lafayette
Greater Lafayette Young Professionals
Powered by Greater Lafayette Commerce, Greater Lafayette Young Professionals (GLYP) is an organization for individuals between the ages of 21 and 39 and who live or work in Greater Lafayette. GLYP provides professional development, community involvement and networking opportunities.
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