November 13, 2026
How Edmonton Businesses Can Turn One Summer Project into Lasting Capacity
A practical framework for using student talent to advance growth, operations, innovation and digital priorities
Submitted by Scott Riddell, NAIT.
For many small and growing businesses, the barrier to innovation is not a shortage of ideas. It is a shortage of focused time. Market research, process improvement, automation and new-service testing often sit behind urgent daily work. A well-designed summer internship can create the capacity to move one of those priorities forward, while building a stronger talent pipeline for the organization.
Start with a business question, not a job description
The most productive internships are organized around a defined business challenge. Instead of hiring for general help, begin with a question such as: Which customer segment should we pursue next? Where is our workflow creating delays? Which repetitive task could be automated? How should we test a new service before investing further? A clear question gives the student a practical focus and gives the employer a way to evaluate the result.
Choose a project that can produce a usable outcome
A summer project should be meaningful but achievable. Strong projects usually end with a tangible output, such as a market-entry recommendation, customer research summary, documented workflow, automation prototype, marketing campaign, process map or tested business concept. This allows the work to continue creating value after the internship ends.
Plan for supervision before recruiting
Student talent adds capacity, but it does not replace leadership. Employers should identify a supervisor who can provide onboarding, workplace access, regular direction and timely feedback. A short weekly check-in, clear milestones and access to the right information can prevent a promising project from becoming disconnected from the business. Before recruiting, employers should also identify the essential skills, available data and internal decision-makers the student will need.
Use partnerships to reduce cost and administrative friction
Post-secondary and funding partnerships can make student projects more accessible to smaller organizations. NAIT's Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summer Internship Program for 2027 is structured around four partners: the employer, the student, NAIT and Mitacs. Through the Mitacs Business Strategy Internship, the project carries a $15,000 award. The employer contributes $7,500 plus GST, Mitacs matches the contribution, and the student completes at least 525 hours during a full-time summer term. NAIT supports project development, recruitment, matching, onboarding and check-ins.
Focus on long-term capacity, not only summer output
The best return is not limited to completed tasks. A student project can help a business document knowledge, introduce a new tool, validate an opportunity or create a repeatable process. Employers can improve the long-term value by asking the student to record assumptions, methods, findings and recommended next steps. That turns an internship deliverable into an asset the organization can continue using.
Conclusion
With the right project, supervision and structure, a summer internship can give an important business priority the dedicated momentum it has been missing. Edmonton businesses should begin by identifying one question that matters, one outcome that would create value and one person who can guide the work. What important project could your organization move forward if it had more than 525 hours of focused student capacity this summer?
Source and attribution
Program figures and process details are drawn from the NAIT Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summer Internship Program 2027 employer handout and the Mitacs Business Strategy Internship information provided through the program.
Author: Scott Riddell is the Program Lead for NAIT’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summer Internship Program. He works with Edmonton-area employers to shape applied student projects that support business growth and innovation. For program information, contact sriddell@nait.ca.
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