About Kristin Boekhoff

Title: Entrepreneurship Intern

Number of Open Positions: 1

Location: Jessore, Bangladesh

Duration: 8 weeks

Salary: 15,000 Tk/ month (room, board, and transportation within Bangladesh are provided; students are responsible for their own transportation to and from Bangladesh)

Job Description:
Panigram Resort will be a socially and environmentally responsible spa resort located in southern Bangladesh. We are developing a luxury boutique resort with a spa and wellness center that protects the natural and cultural heritage of Bangladesh, provides authentic and distinctive travel experiences to discerning travelers, promotes sustainable development, and improves the quality of life in the host community.

As part of our socially responsible initiatives we are helping some of the local entrepreneurs develop small businesses that will cater to the incoming resort industry (i.e. coconut stand by the side of the river, handicraft village, etc.) The local government has given Panigram Resort some land next to a small lake that is currently inhabited by disadvantaged women to use to develop a handicraft village. The entrepreneurship intern will work with Panigram, the government, craftsmen, local entrepreneurs, and the women to design business plans and products for the handicraft village, help them apply for microfinance loans, and, where applicable, will work with the architecture intern to design appropriate buildings for their businesses.  Interns also act as ambassadors for Panigram Resort in our host community and are expected to participate in other activities with the villagers such as Friday English lessons with children and movie night.

Panigram Resort is still under construction, so the interns will be staying in apartments in Jessore City, which is about an hour’s drive from the project site. The accommodation is very basic (no air conditioning, basic furnishings and bathrooms, etc.), but it is a fun environment as all of the interns stay together.

Interns are given some basic Bangla lessons when they arrive so that they can communicate with the villagers. The Bangladeshi people are very warm and hospitable and our past interns have formed some strong bonds with the community.

For logistic reasons, we require all of the interns to arrive on June 1 and complete the full 8 week internship ending on July 30; please only apply if you are able to attend on these dates.

Qualifications:
•    Has completed at least their sophomore year
•    Independent worker
•    Comfortable working in foreign cultures

To Apply:
Please send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the internship to hr@panigram.com with the subject “Entrepreneurship Internship” by April 20, 2012. (Applications without cover letters will not be accepted.)