Summer is officially underway and for over 60 college students it is the beginning of a great journey as interns for GROWMARK, Inc.

“This is our 54th annual GROWMARK summer internship,” says GROWMARK University Relations Manager Ashley McClintock. “We have 61 interns this summer, representing 16 universities across North America.”

The 12 week internship program encompasses a variety of different areas within the GROWMARK system. “Most of our interns are in agronomy, we have a few in precision farming, seed, dairy, grain or commodities, and then we have a handful in energy and marketing as well,” said Ashley.

Unlike many intern programs, GROWMARK offers paid internships to allow students to not only gain valuable experience and connections, but also help them make a little money in the summer. “We view these as our employees as well and we want to make sure they get rewarded for their hard work,” Ashley explained, adding that the program is really a “mutual 12 week interview to see if these students have a future in the GROWMARK system.” In fact, about 50% of GROWMARK interns go on to become full time employees.

Listen to my interview with Ashley here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/growmark-interns-ashley.mp3″ text=”Ashely McClintock, GROWMARK intern program”]

See the list of all GROWMARK summer interns here.

To find out more about the GROWMARK internship program, watch the video below, created by and featuring 2012 interns.