Meet The United Family's Summer Interns!
A Summer of Opportunity
As The United Family’s summer internship program comes to a close, we are proud to recognize our nine hardworking, trailblazing interns! These students worked across seven different departments within the company and have learned invaluable skills that they will carry with them throughout their professional careers.
“I believe the internship program is an important part of our company and a great opportunity for the students. I enjoy seeing them come in and bring new ways of thinking and insights to our business that we maybe haven’t considered,” said Sidney Hopper, president of The United Family. “Part of the program I enjoy is seeing the students present their projects at the end of the summer. I am always impressed with what and how much they have picked up during the program and some of the great ideas that come from that.”
“The internship program also showcases the many opportunities the grocery industry offers today that most people don’t realize outside the stores themselves. The program has also allowed us to hire some great talent who stayed and began their careers with us after completing their internship,” said Hopper.
Alyssa Loafman is a research and development intern with Praters from Levelland, Texas. She is a sophomore at Texas Tech University, majoring in meat science. Alyssa’s most memorable experience as a United Family intern was meeting the people working on Mainline, one of the production areas where salsas, casseroles, and mashed potatoes are made. She states that Tasha Medina has been a big influence on her throughout her internship.
Marianna Nava is a supply chain intern with Llano Logistics from Pampa, Texas. She is a senior at Texas A&M University in College Station, majoring in industrial distribution. Mariana’s most impactful moments during her internship were working with the produce procurement team and attending their meetings, but overall, she has enjoyed working with amazing people who are so passionate about their jobs. Vince Castro, PM grocery superintendent, has been a great influence on Marianna by leading her through grocery receiving shifts and teaching her about the company.
Clare King is a communications and community intern at the store support center from Midland, Texas. She is a senior at Texas Tech University majoring in advertising. Clare says that her favorite thing about her internship was having the opportunity to dive into the world of public relations and community engagement by taking over the LinkedIn account, attending community events, and writing the weekly internal United Family blogs. While working with the company’s internal communications platforms, Clare says that Emma Modisette has been the most influential to her during her time at The United Family.
Cason Stallings is an industrial engineering intern with Praters from Shallowater, Texas. He is a Texas Tech University junior majoring in industrial engineering. Cason says his favorite experiences were spending time with the other interns, volunteering with the South Plains Food Bank, and working as a sacker for a day at Market Street. He states that Raymond Montemayor was the team member who was most influential to him during his internship.
Riley Adamson is a communications and community intern from Lubbock, Texas, at the store support center. She is a Texas Tech University graduate student working to obtain her master’s in communications. Her favorite thing about this internship was seeing The United Family’s involvement within the Lubbock community and beyond. Riley states that both Abie Rampy and Amber McCloud were vital to her success with the company.
Elisabeth Moon is a supply chain intern with Llano Logistics from Bedford, Texas. She is a supply chain management and logistics major at Texas Tech University and will graduate in December. Elisabeth states that being able to see the ins and outs of the banana room and observing how much care the quality control team takes with the products has been very impactful during her time as an intern. Working with the procurement department, she has spent a lot of time learning invaluable information from Kora Rush about the struggles and achievements of procurement.
Iris Youngblood is an industrial engineering intern with Llano Logistics from San Antonio, Texas. She is a senior industrial engineering major at Texas Tech University. Iris says that her favorite part of this internship has been seeing the implementation of her project come together. Seeing things learned in an educational setting be put to use in the real world has been fascinating for her to watch. Iris states that Tony Luna has been a great mentor figure to her throughout this internship.
Kaitlyn Roehr is a marketing intern at the store support center from Weatherford, Oklahoma. She is a senior at Texas Tech University majoring in advertising and psychology. Kaitlyn’s favorite part of her internship was having the opportunity to work on a project with her own creative direction with help from the marketing team. Learning from the marketing team has been a very gratifying experience for Kaitlyn. She states that everyone in the office was truly so helpful, but Jennifer Robinson was the most influential to her this summer.
Zoey Stucker is a returning information technology intern from Lubbock, Texas, at the Reese Technology Center. She is a senior computer science major at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and this is her second summer interning for The United Family. Zoey states that the most memorable moment from this summer was when the code for the web app she was developing started to work. Of all the people she’s worked with this summer, she wants to give special thanks to Andrea Constancio, Lee Flores, and Chris Roesch for all their help and guidance.
“I would strongly encourage any business that does not have an intern program to do so. I truly believe that it makes our company stronger,” said Hopper.
In addition to their daily tasks and projects, our nine interns participated in a volunteer day with the South Plains Food Bank and worked a shift as sackers at Market Street. They all learned many valuable lessons and have a better understanding of their fields of study! Best of luck to these talented United Family interns!
