As part of our mission to promote craft beverage and agricultural producers we host public events to raise the visibility of these industries among state residents and visitors to Maryland. There are often volunteer opportunities for these events. In exchange for your time and effort, we provide tickets to the event, before or after your shift, and sometimes discount tickets to future events. If you’re interested in volunteering for a specific craft beverage industry (breweries, wineries, distilleries), please visit their websites to sign up for their newsletters. Volunteer signups are sent out through the public newsletters. If you’d like to volunteer for any type of event or activity that we do, send a note to info@growandfortify.com.
Internships Available:
Each semester we look for enthusiastic and talented individuals for Government Affairs, Communications and Events internship positions.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS: ALCOHOL and AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS
Grow & Fortify (G&F) seeks one intern each semester to assist in its governmental affairs efforts. G&F represents non-profit trade associations in the alcohol and agricultural sectors.
The internship is unpaid and interns will work remotely, with attendance in Annapolis during the legislative session.
Scope of Internship.
While G&F is a small organization, the legislative and regulatory issues it encounters are often high-profile, and life-threatening to the clients it represents. G&F is charged with protecting the interests of the clients it represents, and thus, it must be vigilant during the state General Assembly’s legislative session every January through April.
Much planning goes into G&F’s work for legislative sessions. Planning begins in September in most years, though some larger issues are multi-year efforts. There are some years when Grow & Fortify and it’s clients have issues/legislation they have sponsored, and in other years G&F must simply keep watch to ensure no legislation is passed that would compromise the industry.
Maryland alcohol is regulated by the State via the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission, with some event-specific regulation by county liquor boards. Maryland agricultural businesses are regulated by the state and local health departments and department of agriculture.
Intern duties will include:
Governmental Affairs/Relations – Work with Executive Director to manage consumer relations, including:
- Attending Governmental Affairs conference calls (weekly during the legislative session).
- Developing single-issue policy statements for various audiences.
- Meeting with regulators and elected officials to further G&F client issues.
- Attending legislative events to discuss issues with attendees.
G&F Client Member Relations:
- Assist executive director in notifying members of regulatory or legislative issues.
- Updating our “action center” if members are needed to testify in Annapolis or attend important functions.
Additional Experience the Interns May Gain
- Contract Negotiations – G&F revises event contracts annually.
- Association Management – attend G&F meetings and manage internal communications.
Requirements
Successful candidates will have willingness to learn and engage in government relations and governmental affairs, and:
- Have excellent writing, editing and verbal communication skills;
- Be punctual;
- Respect deadlines;
- Be a self starter and be proactive;
- Be able to work in a goal-oriented environment;
- Thrive in a high pressure environment;
- Be a strategic and creative thinker;
- Have extreme attention to detail.
Due to the G&F’s promotion of the state’s alcohol industry, interns must be at least 21 years old.
Please send letter of interest and resume to Kelly Dudeck via kelly@growandfortify.com.
COMMUNICATIONS INTERNSHIP
Description
Grow & Fortify (G&F) seeks one intern each semester to assist in its marketing and communication efforts. G&F represents non-profit trade associations in the alcohol and agricultural sectors.
For this internship, the student will work directly with the Director of Communications to develop and execute communication plans covering industry news, programs, products, and events. Responsibilities will include:
- Expanding our current press list.
- Creating new opportunities for editorial placement in local and regional publications/online platforms.
- Meeting with media sales representatives to identify appropriate avenues for advertising and marketing the industry.
- Developing and scheduling social media campaigns for events and festivals.
- Drafting marketing/public relations plans for upcoming events and festivals.
- Contribute to the planning and execution of press events for our clients
Requirements
Successful candidates will have willingness to learn and engage in government relations and governmental affairs, and:
- Have excellent writing, editing and verbal communication skills;
- Be punctual;
- Respect deadlines;
- Be a self starter and be proactive;
- Be able to work in a goal-oriented environment;
- Thrive in a high pressure environment;
- Be a strategic and creative thinker;
- Have extreme attention to detail.
Due to the G&F’s promotion of the state’s alcohol industry, interns must be at least 21 years old.
Please send letter of interest and resume to Kelly Dudeck via kelly@growandfortify.com.
