The program has some promise and it’s a clever way to try and get potential interns to visit businesses in the area. But although it’s a good idea, we’re not sure how effective it will be.

Lansing is not a major destination for most MSU students, especially during the summer. Bernero is smart to start a program attempting to bring them across the city line. Career fairs and other campus events during the fall and spring semesters dominate intern recruiting for MSU. But during the summer, students have limited options while trying to find work. Lansing could be on to something with this program.

It’s inexpensive for the city because they don’t have to cover much more than the cost of punch cards and prizes, so any economic impact should be positive. Even if this promotion doesn’t provide a single intern for a company involved, it will at the very least show a group of people some Lansing businesses that they may have otherwise ignored.

It’s not as though people will be touring giant corporate offices with little more entertainment than the magazines in the lobby. Lansing did a good job of getting a variety of companies involved. The promotion will highlight restaurants, clubs and festivals that Lansing-area workers might not get to see every day. But that unfamiliarity could end up being a problem.

Lansing is a difficult city to navigate for those without much experience, so it’s likely this program could lose some participation by people getting lost on their way to other businesses. It might seem like only a small problem, but if destinations are spread out across the city, it’s going to be extremely difficult to get many students or workers to visit each place. People who are only casually interested in participating likely will be deterred from completing the punch card if they have to shuttle themselves across the city.

Businesses will end up getting some visits, which is better than no visits, but completing the six-company tour might be more difficult than necessary. Each group of businesses every month needs to be within walking distance of each other for this program to get the participation it’s looking for.

This probably won’t be the one solution to Lansing’s many employment woes, but it’s a promising start. Lansing is trying to cater to and retain young workers and needs new ways to try and do so. This program isn’t going to make national headlines or set the tone for the rest of the state, but it shows that the city is at least thinking. If businesses are spaced well and participation is good, this program could have an encore next summer.