Annual FFA Career Days Hosted By Sunrise Cooperative
Mar 05, 2024
The future of the agriculture industry is bright! And that statement held true as Sunrise Cooperative, Inc. welcomed roughly 450 Ohio FFA students from 25 chapters to its annual FFA Career Days in February.
The goal of the event is to help spread awareness about working in the ag industry and what opportunities are available at Sunrise Cooperative. The schedule was setup for small groups that rotated to different areas of our facility. Not only did students have a chance to hear from employees, but they were able to see the equipment and different areas of the cooperative.
Topics were centered around Finding Your Purpose led by agronomy employees, along with Marketing Your Career directed by the grain division, followed by Energizing an Essential Career highlighted by energy employees and the breakout sessions wrapped up with a Leadership discussion centered around core building blocks to carry with you as you find a career that you enjoy. Finally, we provided tours of our facilities and concluded with a RISE FFA Career Panel, that featured recent high school graduates that joined the Sunrise Team following graduation.
“Our Career Days are an outlet for students to ask questions and learn from our employees about the paths they took to get to their current role,” stated Sunrise President/CEO George D. Secor. “We have numerous opportunities at Sunrise for those that have a desire to work in agriculture and have a can-do attitude.”
On February 13th, 165 students from seven local FFA chapters embarked on a career journey at the Sunrise Uniopolis facility; while roughly 50 students, from five schools, began their ag industry excursion at our Norwalk Agronomy location on February 16th. Our Career Days concluded on February 20th with approximately 250 students from 12 schools at our South Charleston Agronomy branch.
Schools in attendance at Uniopolis included Allen East, Benjamin Logan, OHP-Indian Lake, Sidney, St Marys, Upper Scioto Valley-OHP, Wapakoneta and Waynesfield-Goshen. At Norwalk, Sunrise hosted Firelands, Hillsdale, Mohawk, Monroeville and South Central. A.B. Graham-OHP, Adena, East Clinton, Global Impact, Greenon, Hillsboro, Madison Plains, Northeaster, Springfield-Clark CTC, Tecumseh, West Liberty-Salem and Westfall joined us at South Charleston.
A great avenue for FFA students is the Sunrise RISE FFA Career Program. The program is open to high school graduates who are active in their FFA chapter and want to enter the workforce after graduation. They earn fulltime employment upon graduation and begin their careers rotating around the cooperative to learn about all areas. After two years, time will be spent stationed at one location to focus on an area of interest to the employee. The goal is to have continued employment at Sunrise and help them lay the groundwork for a successful career in ag.
The RISE FFA Career Program was developed in 2019 and serves two purposes: provide an avenue to reach the future leaders of agriculture, while supporting the Ohio FFA Association State President during their term in office.
Currently Sunrise has 20 employees that have joined our team through the RISE FFA Career Program. In 2023 alone, Sunrise hired 11 high school graduates as full-time employees after they walked across the stage at graduation.
For more information on the Sunrise RISE FFA Career Program, or to apply, you can visit the Sunrise website at www.sunriseco-op.com/RISEFFA or the Ohio FFA website at www.ohioffa.org. Applications are currently being accepted through March 15, 2024. Candidates for the RISE FFA Career Program need to be a 2024 high school graduate and an active member in their FFA chapter. They must submit an application, along with an essay on how the FFA has prepared them for a career with Sunrise. The Ohio FFA Foundation reviews and interviews the applicants and provides their recommendations for potential full-time employees at Sunrise following graduation.
To learn more about career opportunities at Sunrise visit our website at www.sunriseco-op.com/careers or you can contact Morgan Niedermier, Vice President of Marketing, by phone at (419) 332-6468 ext. 222 or by email at morganniedermier@sunriseco-op.com.
Sunrise Cooperative, Inc. is a leading agricultural and energy cooperative with its corporate headquarters located in Fremont, Ohio. We offer team-based solutions across multiple divisions including agronomy, grain and energy, as well as a nationally recognized precision ag department and our own crop nutrition division, PCT | Sunrise®. Sunrise is a 100-percent farmer-owned cooperative, and we are committed to bringing innovative choices and expert solutions to our customer-owners. At Sunrise, we offer you the best choices delivered by the best team through our state-of-the art facilities and expertly trained employees. We strive each day to grow your success.