Keeley McCormick, a junior food and agribusiness marketing major, interned in the grain department at Mountaire as a prime quality intern.

Class project to internship

Article by Nya Wynn Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and courtesy of Keeley McCormick October 27, 2025

Food and agribusiness marketing major Keeley McCormick turned a job shadow assignment into a Mountaire internship

In Strategic Selling and Buyer Communication (APEC345), Assistant Professor of Applied Economics Kelly Davidson requires her students to seek a one-day job shadow with a sales or marketing professional in place of taking a midterm exam.

“The course is project-based, so I want the students to go out into the field to get a sense of what the real world is like,” Davidson said. “Experiencing a day in the life of sales is hugely valuable in any industry; the whole class is about relationship building and through the shadow experience students get to see professional relationships play out in real time.”

When Keeley McCormick, a University of Delaware junior food and agribusiness marketing (FABM) major, heard about her midterm job shadow requirement, she was determined to find a company that aligned with her agribusiness interests.

“Dr. Davidson’s class is right before a [College of Agriculture and Natural Resources] career fair, so I went and affiliated myself with a variety of agricultural-related companies,” McCormick said. “I ended up meeting some people from Mountaire, a significant contributor to Delmarva’s poultry industry, explained my project and asked if they did any job shadowing.”

McCormick set up a day to shadow one of the sales directors at Mountaire, where she explored the company and learned about the various positions offered in the industry. Her interest in the company and the connections she made through the job shadow helped land her an internship last summer as a prime quality intern.

“Many of my students have received internship or job offers after their shadowing opportunities, particularly in some of the industries that are close to home,” Davidson said. “One student ended up working at Perdue, another in real estate and one even in medical device sales.”

McCormick and her fellow Mountaire interns worked with the contract management and marketing director to assist with farmer recruiting as well as day-to-day operations.

Working within Mountaire’s grain department, McCormick collaborated with the contract management and marketing director to help with contract management and recruiting farmers to sell them their grain, so that the company can create chicken feed.

“I also had a summer-long research project analyzing our grain elevator and how often farmers are delivering there,” McCormick said. “Then I compare that information with data from a farmer recruiting app that we use to see how positive the app is working.”

McCormick also worked with Davidson over the 2025 Winter Session, learning how to market a pasture range land and forage insurance program to farmers at farm shows around the region.

“Farmers took a survey that allowed Dr. Davidson to collect data on how they were analyzing their risk because farmers have probably the most risk of anyone,” McCormick said. “Our job there was to try to get the farmers to take the survey, but through that we learned a lot generally about farmers and what they need as well as the research side of agriculture.”

Due to her background in sales, McCormick easily built rapport with farmers, while also learning how agricultural research is carried out and how to communicate research findings to farmers, a skill that Davidson feels makes students cutting-edge.

“There's real value in understanding how to communicate science,” Davidson said. “In today's world, engaging with research in any way gives you an inside perspective of science and it’s important to understand how to translate research findings to your clients.”

Now a junior, McCormick is joining UD’s National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) team that will put her sales knowledge to the test in a real-world scenario.

In addition to her internship, McCormick recently joined the National Agri-Marketing Association team at UD.

For the fall semester, students in NAMA brainstorm and do market research on potential food and beverage products that they could create and then develop marketing plans for. In the spring, students then fine-tune their market research and prepare to compete in the national competition in April.

“She’s gathering sales experience through the sales classes and engaging in farmer recruitment and her internships, and NAMA will be another experience that helps her apply classroom knowledge to a real world scenario,” Davidson said. “Students in NAMA also build entrepreneurial skills and finance, marketing and branding expertise.”

“I'm excited for Keeley to be a part of the team,” Davidson added. “In addition to all of her sales experience, she also has a background in FFA, which emphasizes public speaking and that's a huge part of the NAMA competition.”

Through all of her experiences, McCormick sees different paths where she can take her FABM degree.

“I want to go into some type of agribusiness or agrimarketing role for a company like Mountaire,” McCormick said. “There are so many places I could take my skills. I want to take a couple more financial classes in the fall and spring, so I can learn a little bit more about the trading side of agribusiness and potentially look into master’s programs. I am excited to see where it takes me.”