The Illinois State University Career Center is pleased to recognize College Pro for its involvement, commitment, and contribution to the Illinois State community.

As a Career Center Platinum Partner, College Pro actively recruits on campus by attending career fairs and conducting on-campus interviews.

Because the company invests and believes in the potential of student entrepreneurs, it offers an encouraging workplace for young entrepreneurs, empowering them to run their own businesses in local communities, and investing in them as tomorrow’s leaders. For more than 40 years, College Pro has been providing exceptional management and leadership training to young entrepreneurs through real-world business experiences. Thousands of students have successfully gone through their training programs, which have often been referred to as a “real-world M.B.A.”

No other job opportunity or internship program for college and university students compares to College Pro. Students participate in hands-on experiences serving as a manager with College Pro and develop skills in leadership, marketing, sales, financial management, employee management, customer service, project management, and problem-solving, all of which are necessary to run a successful small business. Two employment opportunities are available with College Pro: franchise manager position, and exterior painting positions for summer employment with a local franchise.

College Pro was started in 1971 as “College Pro Painters” by its founder, a college student. Living in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the student sought a way to provide college students a chance to pay for their schooling and to secure postgraduate careers, and in the process made College Pro the original student-run painting company. More than four decades later, College Pro treats nearly 25,000 homes annually with exterior house painting and operates in local communities across 28 U.S. states and seven Canadian provinces.

If you know someone who is motivated, innovative, and interested in getting ahead of their peers and you can see them in a leadership position, refer them to College Pro. If you have an upcoming event or program that you would like a company to help sponsor, contact College Pro. It is a company that believes that giving to campus organizations is a great opportunity to find future leading managers for its program.

Faculty interested in connecting with College Pro should contact Pam Cooper at pjcoope@ilstu.edu or (309) 438-3245.