A different kind of Farmers’ Market will come to San Luis Obispo Thursday.
The Agribusiness Management and National Agri-Marketing Association will host the 23rd annual Ag Showcase, bringing companies and job opportunities to Cal Poly students.
The showcase will host 78 companies this year, a 24 percent increase from last year’s 63. Jordan Baxter, an agribusiness senior and showcase coordinator for the student-run association, is in charge of contacting the companies.
“The most (companies) ever was just before the recession hit,” Baxter said. “This is the highest number since the recession.”
Leanna Lynch, an agribusiness senior, said she hopes the Showcase means the beginning of a career. It’s the Association president’s fourth year attending and first time looking for a job.
“There’s a lot of competition right now, just with the economy and everything,” she said. “It’s harder for people to get jobs right out of college.”
One person dedicated to helping students get jobs right out of college is Robert McCorkle, professor emeritus of agribusiness.
McCorkle runs internships and job placement programs for the agribusiness department. Companies come looking for everything, from interns to employees, to connections with students, he said. Ag students looking for jobs and internships generally have a high success rate.
“Lots of them (students) have one right off of this showcase,” McCorkle said.
Jobs at this year’s fair come from a broader range of companies, and more companies compared to past years, career counselor Amie Hammond said.
“There are so many different opportunities in them, not just working on a farm or on a ranch, like some people may think,” Hammond said.
The showcase does include farm jobs, but this year’s fair goes into construction, landscape architecture, engineering, logistics, software and animal science, Baxter said.
“It really does cater to a lot of different students with different skill sets,” Baxter said. “The agriculture industry is different from any other industry that I’ve really been around. It’s all about communication skills and interpersonal relationships amongst everyone.”
The types of jobs in agriculture are also changing from large corporations to smaller cooperatives, McCorkle said.
“We have fewer people looking for farm jobs because farms have been consolidating for many, many years and become larger, so they’re taking less interns,” McCorkle said. “On the other hand, we see the new sort of concept of sustainable, organic and small farmers; operations where they take interns because they have to market their products and they have to take them down to the farmer’s markets, so there’s opportunities for interns to help out in that area.”
The students that have put on the Ag Showcase for the past few years have really tried to bring in a more diverse range of employers, Hammond said.
“The students are excited that there is everything from small family owned businesses to large corporations,” Hammond said. “There’s definitely more of an emphasis on sustainable or organic agriculture. That’s something more students are interested in, so they’re happy to see that represented. I think they’re pleased with the selection available.”
The industry constantly evolves, McCorkle said. He wants students to be prepared. Agribusiness’s curriculum has expanded to include traits of America’s most popular majors, such as accounting and market research, he said.
“Being effective in an ever changing environment is sort of our goal here,” McCorkle said.
The agribusiness major covers more than just classroom skills, McCorkle said. It’s all about providing people with tools to attack and resolve problems, he said.
Mark Ange, the assistant director of purchasing and showcase representative for Markon Cooperative and Cal Poly alumnus, said he sees Cal Poly graduates enter the industry prepared.
“Cal Poly is a great fit as far as the culture and philosophy of ‘Learn By Doing’,” Ange said. “Having a goal of graduating with a specific, usable degree, pursuing it, accomplishing it is a really great skill to have in the workplace. We just hired two Cal Poly grads full time.”
Approximately 50 percent of company representatives are graduates of Cal Poly, Baxter said.
Steven Harding is a Cal Poly alumnus who is now a regional president for Rabobank for the Northern Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Rabobank expects to see bright students with common sense at the Ag Showcase, Harding said.
“If you put a graduate of Cal Poly up against a graduate from any other university, all other things being equal, the one from Cal Poly will usually get the job,” Harding said.
In order to prepare for the showcase, an Industry Social will be held the night before the showcase. The social gives current students a chance to become better acquainted with potential employers in a laid-back setting, Baxter said. The social also gives employers, many of which are Cal Poly alumni, an opportunity to see old friends and new showcase attendees, Baxter said.
“These new companies say, ‘Wow, there’s an industry social, tell me about this, what can I expect?’ — it’s not their traditional job fair,” Baxter said.
To accommodate the number of interested companies, the association moved the Ag Showcase from Chumash Auditorium to the Farm Shop, said Jenni James, agribusiness professor and the association’s student adviser.
This article was written by Natalie DeLossa.