Research Park has welcomed a company that may provide employment opportunities for students and graduates.

Yahoo, the global Internet services company, opened an office at 2021 S. First St. in September.

“We’re working on Web technologies and a lot of different, exciting projects here,” said Cathy Singer, engineering director for the Champaign-Urbana Yahoo office. “We’re not just doing one thing.”

Singer said these projects include designing Web sites and behind-the-scenes work to keep the servers running.

One of the major reasons Yahoo decided to open a branch in Champaign was to continue to build a working relationship with the University.

“There have been conversations between Yahoo and U of I just because computer science and engineering is so phenomenal here,” said Gilda Jennings, manager of the internship program at Yahoo. “We wanted to be sure we were a presence here.”

This presence includes an internship program that will start soon, Jennings said. Sarah Zehr, director of Engineering Career Services, said Yahoo plans on eventually hiring computer science students to work there.

Jennings said the program would be yearlong, with interns working 20 hours during the school year and full time during the summer.

While the internship program is small at the moment, Jennings said she is working to expand it. By early 2008, the program may be large enough to accommodate 30 interns.

The program is slated to be exclusively for University students.

Employment at Yahoo can last longer than a year, provided that the company and the intern remain in regular contact.

“Part of the intern program is to invest time and energy so when an opening becomes available in this town or other parts, we already have employees that know the system,” Jennings said. “We would be able to employ them.”

Yahoo’s latest location on campus will present new possibilities for students in computer science, said Alex Gadgeff, junior in Engineering.

“I think it will definitely open up more opportunities for some students,” Gadgeff said. “It ought to make it easier for some students who want to remain on campus or close to home.”

Once Yahoo has established its presence in Champaign-Urbana, it will be looking to hire more employees. Jennings said the company will be looking at the University for some of its hires.

“As we grow and expand, it would be silly not to use the resources available in town,” Jennings said.