ITMA And YHFP Provide Summer Internships In Textiles & Home Furnishings.

Furniture World Magazine

The International Textile Market Association (ITMA) for the first time joined forces with the Young Home Furnishings Professionals (YHFP) to provide internships for high-achieving college juniors and seniors. The joint program, which pairs students with industry leaders for an eight-week summer educational experience, was designed to attract and retain more young people to the textile and home furnishings industries. Seven student interns will be placed in businesses representing various areas of the textiles and home furnishings industry based on their interests. Areas include retail stores, fabric design, advertising, furniture manufacturing and furniture marketing. Iv Culp, president YHFP and president of Culp Home Fashions: “YHFP has had an ongoing, successful internship program, but we thought partnering with ITMA was a natural fit to help us grow and expand the program. YHFP's most important mission is to attract, promote and retain young people in the furniture industry, so the internship program is our most treasured activity. It gives us the chance to place aspiring students in real-world learning environments with world-class companies. ITMA is a tremendous organization and was a great help in placing 7 outstanding candidates this summer. We look forward to future years together and placing a greater number of high-quality students each year.” Companies who are supporting this summer’s program include La-Z-Boy, Klaussner, Culp Inc., Craftex Mills, Crypton Super Fabrics, Parinco Rugs and Stanley Furniture. Participating schools include High Point University, East Carolina University, North Carolina State University and Clemson University. Penny Eudy, Product Manager for Major Upholstery at La-Z-Boy explained that, “The YHFP & ITMA internship program gives students a true knowledge of the day-to-day processes of merchandising a complete product line from initial design and development to market. This knowledge cannot be learned in the classroom, it must be experienced first hand. The program is also valuable to La-Z-Boy because it gives us exposure to talented young people that could one day make excellent employees and literally become the future of our industry. It also allows us to assign a dedicated person, and a fresh set of eyes to market and industry research as well as other functions and special projects.” Founded in 1990, the ITMA is a not-for-profit trade association, consisting of mills, converters, tanneries and trimming manufacturers that supply decorative coverings for the home furnishings industry, whose main objective is to stimulate growth and development within the home furnishings industry. The ITMA is the producer of Showtime, the largest textile market in the United States. The YHFP is an organization designed to promote and retain young management professionals within the home furnishings industry. Its members are primarily under the age of 40 and are involved in some aspect of the home furnishings industry. Internship applications are available year round at www.yhfp.org/intern.htm For more information, call 336-885-6842 or visit www.itma-showtime.com.