By Courtney Pohlit, Director of Human Resources
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, 31 students completed our summer internship program and were assigned to various branches.
Throughout our 8-12 week summer internship program, participants receive an orientation and are exposed to a variety of operational and management responsibilities. Each intern is assigned a branch mentor who acts as their guide and resource through the summer program. The interns also 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 travel to our corporate campus for 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.
This year, we also welcomed two visiting faculty members 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 Reese Nelson, Internship Coordinator and Professor at Brigham Young University, Idaho and Geoffrey Rinehard, Academic Advisor & Lecturer at the University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture for their partnership in growing future green industry leaders.
We are extremely proud of our 2023 interns and excited to see what the future holds for them!
- Adena Hawk (SSM), University of Maryland
- Anthony Visairo (NCL), Central Piedmont Community College
- Carter Ruppert (LAM), University of South Carolina
- Claude McLeod (RAM), North Carolina State University
- Hannah Chambers (ALM), Virginia Tech
- Jackson Smith (GAL), Covenant College
- Jalal Parker (DLM), Virginia Tech
- Jefferson Sturgis (NCL), College of Charleston
- Jesus Vaquera (TXL), University of Houston
- Keegan Meacham (FRM), McDonogh School
- Lance Boyers (VAL), Owens Community College
- Luke Scalese (GAL), Virginia Tech
- Matthew Ourand (DCM), University of Maryland
- McCullen Overton (ALM), Virginia Tech
- Meagan Sullivan (TXL), University of Houston
- Ronald Barker (TNL), Georgia Southern
- Ben Mixon (MDL), Salisbury University
- Alex Morris (GAL), Georgia Southern University
- Caleb Lee (VAL), Virginia Tech
- Joe Boyce (MDL), University of Alabama
- John Gilligan (NCL), North Carolina State University
- Trinity Nixon (MAM), Chattahoochee Tech College
- Ty Baker (NCL), Pitt Community College
- Elena Allen (LIM), University of Arizona
- Parker Fox (TNL), University of Tennessee
- Edgar Gutierrez (TXL), University of Houston
- Juliet Chamberlain (LIM), Brigham Young University – Idaho
- Nicholas Melchiorre (NCL), UNC Pembroke
- Seamus Ruane (MDL), University of Maryland
- William Rafter (VAL), Virginia Tech
- Zoe Batten (CORP), Towson 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!