ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce will host a Summer Work Travel Community Forum on Aug. 5 at the Orange Beach Welcome Center, offering local businesses a chance to learn how to bring international university students onto their payrolls for next summer’s tourist season.
The forum is designed for two audiences: employers who already host J-1 visa workers through the federal Summer Work Travel program and business owners considering the program for the first time. Organizers said the session will cover regulatory updates, step-by-step guidance for getting started and opportunities to connect with other host employers in the community.
The Summer Work Travel program allows international university students to travel to the United States on J-1 visas to work and experience American culture during their summer break, a pipeline many Gulf Coast tourism and hospitality businesses rely on to staff hotels, restaurants and attractions during the peak season.
The forum’s agenda is broken into a series of short sessions across the morning. A representative from the U.S. Department of State will deliver a keynote presentation beginning at 9 a.m. That will be followed at 9:30 a.m. by an overview of the basics of the Summer Work Travel program, and at 10 a.m. by a discussion on the value of building a local community support network for J-1 students and employers, along with best practices for host businesses.
At 10:30 a.m., organizers will walk attendees through the application and paperwork process tied to Social Security and taxes, information employers need to properly bring international student workers onto their books. The forum will close with an open question-and-answer session from 11 a.m. to noon, giving business owners a chance to raise specific concerns about hosting workers for the 2027 summer season.
Admission to the forum is free, though organizers noted that space is limited. The Orange Beach Welcome Center is located along the city’s coastal corridor, a hub for the tourism-driven businesses that make up much of the workforce need the Summer Work Travel program is meant to help fill along coastal Baldwin County.