SOURCE Magazine Fall 2021 October/November 2021 | Page 30

Interns and Innovation – A Perfect Pair

Heather Thompson , Digital Communications Manager hthompson @ growmark . com
GROWMARK Home-Office Interns ( in chairs ) and Innovation Interns ( on couch )
Interns have been an important part of the GROWMARK System for more than fifty years so it ’ s hard to think of an internship as an “ innovation .” By definition an innovation is , “ a new method , product , or idea .” Internships may not be new to GROWMARK , but some recent interns have certainly been innovating .
According to Kayla Tobias , Manager of Member and Student Recruiting , every participant in the GROWMARK summer intern program is tasked with a project that spans the 12 weeks of their internship . The projects are usually a cross-section of the student ’ s interests and the business need of the organization . “ Recently we ’ ve seen a big uptick in technology and innovationoriented projects ,” said Tobias . In 2021 alone , interns worked with emerging products like biologicals , implemented technology platforms to improve customer service , and piloted UAVs with high-powered NDVI cameras capable of identifying plant health issues not visible to the naked eye .
Gabrielle Henrichs , an intern at GROWMARK FS – MidAtlantic , conducted a research trial on corn , peppers , and tomatoes to determine the impact of nitrogen-fixing bacteria products like BlueN , Source , and Envita . These biologicals represent one of the most recent innovations in agronomy inputs and Gabrielle ’ s research was instrumental in helping GFS take a step forward in this market .
Intern Noah Kopplin implemented a Computer Maintenance Management System ( CMMS ) for Total Grain Marketing . The tool will help the operations team at TGM manage assets , schedule routine maintenance , and track work orders . Kopplin expects the tool will be especially useful during the busy fall season .
“ Elevator managers can use the system to make work order requests and the operations manager can then dispatch the millwrights based on the priority of the job . The millwrights can look at the system from iPads to review the work order and specs before they drive to the facility . This will help TGM address maintenance issues at their facilities much more efficiently .”
Tobias noted that the University Relations team is also taking an innovative approach to their own internship program . “ We ’ re looking at ways to extend the parameters of the GROWMARK internship ,” she said . “ People are looking to interns as a pipeline for talent in this competitive market and we want to bring in exceptional talent in any way we can .”
One unique way to bring in talent via internships is through a recent partnership between Illinois State University and the GROWMARK Information Technology division . Leland Roling , GROWMARK Manager of Architecture and Innovation , worked with Kayla Tobias to establish the first cohort of Innovation Interns at GROWMARK this summer . Roling , an ISU grad himself , has been working to build a relationship with the Technology department at ISU for a few years . “ The first few years we had a single intern