Business and Industry Partnerships

Nebraska School, Family, and Community Engagement Framework

Business and industry partnerships are collaborations between business and industry groups and education. This could include internships, tours of businesses and industries to connect to the content area or career and technical education and training standards. It’s essential to recognize that businesses may not initially consider schools and childcare providers when discussing potential business and industry partnerships. Instead, they may first think of collaborations between businesses within an industry or collaborations between industries.

The Need for Business and Industry Partnerships

Business and industry partnerships can enhance the education of young people and increase the capacity of local education providers. Intentional business and industry partnerships provide opportunities to improve Pre-K-12 student outcomes and experiences. Such experiences prepare students to meet the local needs of current and future employers, and connect families to community resources. View more resources here.

Business and industry partnerships:

• Develop both academic and employability competencies
• Build networking opportunities
• Create opportunities for young people
• Strengthen local communities
• Support families in understanding career choices
• Provide students with experiential learning opportunities

Finding Local Partnerships to Meet ALL Student’s Needs

When searching for local business and industry partnerships, finding business owners and industry representatives that reflect the local school population is a great first step to building a lasting and meaningful relationship.  Students will be more likely to engage positively when they can see themselves represented in the partnership.

Perkins V reflects the 100-year federal commitment to Career Technical Education (CTE) by providing federal support for CTE programs and focuses on improving the academic and technical achievement of CTE students, strengthening the connections between secondary and postsecondary education and improving accountability. Perkins V allows states and local communities to implement a vision for CTE that uniquely supports the range of educational needs of students — exploration through career preparation — and balances those student needs with the current and emerging needs of the economy.

Some considerations when searching for business and industry partnerships are:

• The demographics of each school population
• Student interests
• Economic priorities and opportunities of each community and region
• The positive impact of potential relationships for both students and businesses
• Needs of business and industry