Summer of Multiple Jobs

By Kelsey Scheer, USMEF summer intern

My family and I outside of my summer office

            My internship at the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is well underway, and now that I think of it, I only have three weeks left! I have learned so much here at the USMEF and have met so many great people. Everyone in the office has kept me busy with projects, and I have really enjoyed getting to know them and learning about what their job entails. It will definitely be a bitter sweet day when I head back to Nebraska at the end of the month.

            Since my last blog, I have spent most of the summer in the USMEF Denver Headquarters working on several projects with almost all of the departments. Many of my projects haven’t been that big, but they have helped out the staff. Some of my smaller day projects include entering the Board of Directors Evaluations into a spreadsheet, calculating proposed pork budgets, measuring office furniture, and cleaning out the storage room, to get ready for the move.

            The one trip that I have had since by last blog was to the World Pork Expo (WPX) in Des Moines, Iowa, with the Nebraska Pork Producers Mentoring Program. While I was there, I networked with several possible employers and even had an interview a few weeks after meeting them at WPX.  I also met up with John Hinners, USMEF Assistant Vice President of Industry Relations.  He introduced me to past chairmen and we attended an international trade seminar.

            In the beginning of June, I worked on the corn project I learned about at the Board of Directors Meetings, back in May. This project came about after World Perspectives, Inc. completed a study on how much red meat exports give back to the corn industry.  Without the help from Jessica Strutzel, and Erin Borror, I wouldn’t have been able to I create a four-page handout for the state of Iowa. The handout provided information on how the beef and pork exports add money back to the Iowa corn producers. At WPX, John Hinners presented my draft to Iowa Corn Promotion Board and they really liked it, so they sent it on to their personal designer. She is going to clean up a few things and make it more attractive to the eye. Once we get it back, I will continue on with the project by developing handouts for the top 10 corn producing states. 

            Since World Pork Expo, I have been helping the Technical Services Department the most.  They are updating their slaughter and processing plant database, and they needed information from plants that export red meat internationally.  They also needed somebody that could send out some emails and then organize the data that was sent back, so I got the job.  The information collected will help USMEF’s Technical Service Team quickly identify plants for technical visits, audits, and trade teams.  I have also helped the Tech Services Department with organizing data from the beef plants that are eligible to export to Japan, which USMEF compiled this data for USDA, and they will send it on to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The Japanese government will use this information to determine which plants will be chosen participate in the annual beef audit by Japan. 

Tammy Connolly has enlisted my help with the sixth annual Latin American Product Showcase that will take place July 20 &21^st in Panama City. Ordering supplies, organizing registration packets, creating transportation charts, and assisting with shipments are just a few of the duties I have taken on with this event. 

            When I am not picking up projects from other staff, I am working on a competitor analysis.  John asked me to complete a competitor analysis on five countries.  He wants me to find out what their specific strategies are, what they are spending money on, and where they are getting their money from.  The first country I started with was Australia, our largest beef competitor. Since completing Australia, I have done some studying of Brazil, Canada, Chile, and the European Union.
           

Jessica Strutzel-Trade Analyst, Lindsay Camel-Technical
Services Specialist, and I enjoying the game!

Due to Denver’s hot real estate market, USMEF was informed last fall by building management that they would need to vacate this summer (end of July) or pay the extremely high rent that is being charged in the lower part of downtown, affectionately called LoDo by the locals. The office moved is planned for the end of July, as USMEF was able to negotiate a new lease on the east side of downtown at much more favorable rates. However, because the current office is located within two blocks of Coors Field, USMEF management wanted to host a staff teambuilding get together at a Colorado Rockies game before leaving this area.

And here is evidence of the fun we had at the game (Rockies vs. Blue Jays), I will leave out the score so that we can stay upbeat!

View of the mountains from the bike trail

I was fortunate that my boss, John let me take off a day and a half, so I could join the rest of my family for vacation.  I invited them to come into the office, so they could see where I work, and so I could show off my beautiful niece, Hallie.  After an office visit, we were off to Keystone to celebrate Independence Day Weekend. We enjoyed a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, a 6-mile bike ride with gorgeous views, and watched the rain from inside with a mountain views.