At Grow West, we believe the best way to foster young PCAs is giving them hands-on experience and real-world customer interaction. Our summer internship program is driven by this mindset, providing students with a diverse set of experiences to help them learn more about Grow West, the customers we serve, and all that the PCA role entails.

A recent example is Andrew Kindelt, who completed his second summer as an intern with Grow West. Grateful for the experience, he shared that the Grow West team consistently went out of their way to support and provide knowledge to him this summer. “I am so thankful for the opportunity that Grow West has given me and I will use what I have learned for the rest of my career in agriculture,” says Kindelt.

Samantha Hanley, VP of Human Resources at Grow West, says, “By providing a well-rounded experience, the interns in the program have the ability to build relationships with not only Grow West employees, but our partners and suppliers as well.”

Now in its fourth year, this summer’s program included five interns that were hosted across several branch locations.  Because Grow West provides many different products and services for a very diverse crop mix, a key component of the program is to ensure interns are exposed to more than just one specific department or location during their internship program.

When asked about his internship experience, Carlos Hinojoza shared, “I was able to speak with customers and learn how to build good relationships from professionals. I spent a lot of time in the field with experienced PCAs and operations employees and got to learn new methods of farming and pest management.”

Over the last few years, Grow West has developed a structured approach for the program which includes a full day of onboarding at the headquarters in Woodland, a summer project, and department tours.

Cole Brown enjoyed the independence and continual learning that was provided by the structure of the program. When scouting fields and interacting with PCAs at Grow West, Brown shared, “There was something new to learn every day, and I enjoyed having the flexibility to help set my plan for each day.”

We want to say thank you to the five interns who significantly contributed to a successful summer for Grow West. It was a great experience for us to get to know each of them and gain fresh insights and perspective from this group. Congratulations!

• Cole Brown, Napa Valley College
• Jerry Tapia, California State University, Chico
• Carlos Hinojoza, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• Andrew Kindelt, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• Carson Marquardt, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

For more information about the internship program or to recommend someone you feel would be a good fit, please contact Samantha Hanley at HR@growwest.com. To submit a resume, please click the button below.