By Courtney Pohlit, Director of People and Recruiting
With a strong desire to attract the industry’s best and brightest to our ranks, we actively recruit students from a variety of colleges and universities across the country. We try to be selective in the process of choosing the best candidates for this internship program, as more than half of the interns who complete the program are offered full-time employment after graduation. This year, our summer internship program welcomed 28 students assigned to various branches.
Throughout our eight to 12-week summer internship program, participants receive an orientation and exposure to a variety of operational and management responsibilities. They have an opportunity to interact with senior leadership; participate in skills training, branch appreciation initiatives and trade association meetings; and work with other interns and branch personnel.
At the end of the summer, they take part in an event called Intern Day which marks the culmination of our internship program. During this event, they are required to prepare a presentation about their summer work experience, detailing what they learned and how they will apply that knowledge at school or in future work experiences.
Coinciding with Intern Day was our annual Faculty Forum, where we welcomed faculty members from college horticulture, landscape, and agriculture programs to learn about Ruppert and our internship program and to generate ideas on how we both can attract and prepare students for success in this field. We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to the following for attending our Faculty Forum and for their ongoing partnership in growing future green industry leaders: Stephanie Heumann, Professional In Residence and Undergraduate Coordinator, College of Engineering, Louisiana State University; Marcel Maghiar, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering & Construction, Georgia Southern University; Barry Stephens, Academic Advisor, College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design, West Virginia University; Geoffrey Rinehard, Academic Advisor & Lecturer, Institute of Applied Agriculture, University of Maryland.
We are extremely proud of our 2022 interns and excited to see what the future holds for them!
- Areli Benitez (VAL) Virginia Tech
- Daniel Burgess (VAL) Liberty University
- Casey Corcoran (VAL) West Virginia University
- Tyler Croson (ALM) Virginia Tech
- Grant Fuller (LAM) John Hopkins University
- Lorenzo Gonzles-Ysern (DCM) University of Maryland
- Daniel Hearne (TOM) University of Delaware
- Winston Milton (MDL) Ohio State University
- Benjamin Mixon (MDL) Salisbury University
- Phoenix Morrison (DCM) University of Maryland
- Evan Nadolny (GAL) Georgia Southern University
- Madelyn Nazelrod (FOM) University of Delaware
- Brendan Nee (KIM) Pennsylvania College of Technology
- Brayden Ngo (CORP-IT) University of Maryland
- McCullen Overton (ALM) Virginia Tech
- Madison Potteiger (CAM) Temple University
- Jason Prabaharan (VAL) Virginia Tech
- Nathan Ramby (NCL) East Carolina University
- Vicente Reyes (TXL) University of Houston
- Joseph Rodriguez (TXL) University of Houston
- Brayden Safley (FRM) York College of PA
- Matt Stanislav (MDL) West Virginia University
- Conrad Sunter (LAM) Penn State University
- Luke Talboys (NCL) Appalachian State University
- Chase Turner (NCL) North Carolina State University
- Paxton Williams (NCL) UNC Wilmington
- Chris Wilson (MDL) Central Connecticut State University
- Ryan Yates (GVM) James Madison University
If you or someone you know is interested in an internship at Ruppert, please reach out to us at info@ruppertcompanies.com so that we can reserve a spot for you!