Back to School Means …
It’s hard to believe that Labor Day has come and gone and summer is already quickly becoming a distant memory.
The Labor Day holiday also means back to school for college students as they return to campus and settle back into the regular classroom routines.
And it also means it is time for college students to apply to be the 2017 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year.
This will be the 18th year that GPN and Nexus have worked together to identify one unique student who has completed a horticulture/floriculture-related internship.
Once again, we want to find that one exceptional individual whose internship experience really made an impact on their personal and professional goals.
The 2017 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year will receive a check for $3,000; be featured in an article and on the cover of the January 2017 issue of GPN; and receive travel and hotel expenses to Cultivate’17 in Columbus, Ohio, next July as well as a complimentary full Cultivate’17 registration.
So if you know a student who participated in an internship program and might be interested in this scholarship, then we want to hear from him or her.
To be considered for the 2017 scholarship, the student must:
- Be enrolled in a four-year accredited university during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017;
- Be working on an undergraduate degree in horticulture/floriculture; and
- Have completed a greenhouse-related internship in 2016.
There are no forms to fill out. To apply for the 2017 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year Scholarship, the student must:
- Write a cover letter requesting consideration for the scholarship and state what university he/she attends;
- Secure a letter of recommendation on university letterhead from the applicant’s academic advisor; and
- Write a minimum 1,000-word essay describing the internship experience including where the applicant interned, what his/her responsibilities were and what was learned during the internship.
All application materials should be sent to me at thodson@greatamericanpublish.com.
Back to school means assignment due dates — the deadline for applications is Oct. 19, 2016.
Wal-Mart Moves to Shuffle Back-Office Jobs to Sales Floor
Wal-Mart said it plans to eliminate approximately 7,000 back-office jobs in the coming months. Most of the jobs are accounting and invoicing positions. Wal-Mart plans to centralize the positions and/or automate many of the tasks. The retailer is making the move as part of its efforts to put more associates on its store sales floors. Those employees affected by the cuts are expected to be offered customer-facing jobs.
Lowe’s Robot Program Aimed at Helping Customers
Lowe’s is turning to robots to help shoppers in 11 of its stores in the San Francisco area. The company’s new LoweBots are NAVii autonomous retail services robots that can maneuver their way through a store, scan inventory and help customers find the products they are looking for in the store. According to the company, the robots will be able to help shoppers with simple tasks so the employees can devote more time to customers with more complex requests.
Home Depot Makes Major Commitment to Veterans
The Home Depot Foundation has announced it would commit $250,000 million to veteran-related causes by 2020. The announcement kicks off the Foundation’s sixth annual Celebration of Service — a two-month-long campaign focused on improving the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans and their families. Through Veterans Day, Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate-led volunteer force, will work with different organizations to complete projects for veterans in need.
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