January 2022 - 17

INTERN OF THE YEAR
According to Cole, management at Green Circle Growers
was very proactive in protecting employees from the coronavirus.
" They did a really good job keeping everyone safe, " he says.
All employees were required to wear masks, sanitizing stations
were available and, whenever possible, social distance.
And health care professionals even came to Green Circle
Growers to administer the vaccines to employees so Cole was
able to receive both doses of his COVID-19 vaccines during his
internship.
Bring them on.
4
3
2
1
to ask a lot of questions and take
advantage of the growing staff's
expertise. " Being able to ask
questions of coworkers with different
ages, backgrounds and perspectives
helped my thought process when it
comes to approaching my future. "
That is one of Cole's future
goals, too - open as many lines of
communication with as many people
as possible. " I really appreciated
hearing people's stories and how
they got to Green Circle Growers.
I wanted to pick their brains about
what they like about their jobs and
what drives them.
" I really wanted to work on
connecting with the people I was
meeting and really get to know the
growers. I went out of my way to dig
deeper and ask more questions. "
When asked what he would
have done differently during
his internship, knowing what he
knows now, he says, " I would have
probably asked even more questions
than I did! "
AN UNFORGETTABLE
EXPERIENCE
Cole returned to KSU last fall and
will finish up his studies by the end
of this year.
Cole says working at Green Circle
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practiced in the previous locations
in the previous 12 weeks and " I
was able to see the progress I had
made, as well as assess what sort
of a career I may possibly pursue in
the future. "
In Plant 2, he had a chance to
learn the intricacies of greenhouse
space utilization, different growing
strategies for specific crops and
communicate with other growers
to learn more about how they do
their jobs. " Plant 2 seemed to
have aspects of all three of my
previous rotations, so I reflected a
great deal on my entire experience
during this time. "
AN INQUIRING MIND
As Cole made his rotations
through Green Circle Growers'
operations, he took the opportunity
Growers was a terrific way to learn
how to apply his education at KSU
and get a good feeling for what
it is like to work for a large-scale
production operation.
Going into his internship last
January, he wasn't really sure what
to expect. " The scale of Green
Circle Growers, from the number
of employees and plants they are
responsible for to the yearly profit
and rapid expansion [the company is
currently undergoing], was difficult
to comprehend. "
Looking back, he really
appreciates the wide variety of
experiences he had during his time
at Green Circle. " I wanted to see
as much as possible. I wanted to
focus on having a well-rounded
experience. "
And that's what he did and it made
a lasting impression.
" This internship will stick with me
throughout the remainder of my
education and career! "
GREENHOUSE PRODUCT NEWS 17
http://www.pwpvg.com
January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
