West Virginia State University (WVSU) students will soon have the opportunity to gain practical, real world experience through a new internship program with one of the nation’s most successful mattress companies.
Innovative Mattress Solutions is offering WVSU students the chance to be selected for the company’s new Blue Chip Development Internship Program, which is designed to develop future leaders.
Company representatives were on campus Tuesday, Feb. 12, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in 207 Wallace Hall meeting with potential WVSU students for the program.
If selected, students would work up to 20 hours per week over a two-year period in the internship program rotating through different aspects of the Innovative Mattress Solutions operations. The internships are paid and at the conclusion of the two-year rotation, a formal job offer could be made.
Innovative Mattress Solutions has its corporate headquarters as well as a warehouse facility in Winfield, W.Va. The company operates in the states of West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana as Mattress Warehouse, Sleep Outfitters, Mattresses Unlimited and Mattress King.
Students accepted into the internship program could work in the company headquarters, warehouse or in individual retail stores over the course of their internship. They will gain practical experience in areas such as marketing, business operations and sales, among other areas.
“We are very excited to partner with such a creative company as Innovative Mattress Solutions,” said Barbara Ladner, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at WVSU. “They are leaders in their field and we know that our students can learn a great deal over the course of their internship.”
Founded in 1983 by Kim Knopf with one store in South Charleston, today, Innovative Mattress Solutions has nearly 150 locations and more than 400 employees. The company has been honored as a Retail Giant of Bedding by Furniture Today, and Knopf has been named to the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame, sponsored by West Virginia University.
For more information about the Innovative Mattress Solutions Blue Chip Development Internship Program, contact the WVSU Office of Career Services and Co-operative Education at (304) 766-3143.
