SALISBURY — July 25 was National Intern Day, a day to recognize the contributions interns make where they work and is a time to say thank you for the work they do and the fresh perspective they provide.

This new perspective is one major thing that Brad Parsley, director of finance with Food Lion, said interns can offer to a company. 

Parsley, who in addition to his duties as director for the regional grocer, also mentors interns in his department and he himself served as an intern for two summers at Food Lion prior to his career with the company, which has spanned 22 years.

He said he has been with the company longer than these new interns have been alive and they come with different perspectives on “how a company should operate, how a company should interact in the community.”

Noting that their education is different from what he had 20 years ago, they are closer to the technology that is around today, and therefore have the “ability to pick up new technology and skills.”

Born in Salisbury and having lived in Woodleaf and Cooleemee and graduated from Davie County High School, he now resides in Mocksville. Parsley said he had never moved far and through those years, he has seen the growth of the local company.

While a student at North Carolina State University where he was majoring in applied mathematics, Parsley was preparing to come home for summer break in 2001 when he learned of the internships at Food Lion through a friend of his mother.

With a laugh, he said his first reaction was that he would be “glad to sit in an office instead of in a McDonald’s for the summer.”

But he then considered what a good opportunity it would be and he would be able to “get my foot into the door of a company I had grown up with my entire life.”

Submitting his application, Parsley was accepted and earned an internship in the accounting department where he helped with reconciliation on coupons.

In time, he met one of the leaders in the treasury department and his duties included doing some work in this area, helping to model and understand the daily cash flow, he said.

During his time as an intern that first summer, Parsley said he learned about the company and was able to see it from the inside, which he said was “very eye-opening for me. I had no clue what happened inside a retail grocery company.” And he noted it was great to learn how big and broad this organization was that was right where he lived.

After completing his first summer at Food Lion, Parsley said he applied for a second summer internship, because he absolutely enjoyed it and was seeing how he could apply what he was learning in school.

He learned “how the company was organized and existed from the corporate structure of things,” he said, and these among other things, drew him to it. Parsley worked this second summer in the treasury department, which he determined would be a “better fit for me of what I wanted to do.”

Returning to college after his second internship, he said he only had one semester to complete and decided to rearrange his schedule during that last semester of his senior year to take Accounting 101 because he “needed to know more of the accounting language and so I would be able to talk about it a little better.”

Finishing college in the fall of 2002, Parsley said he started working full time with Food Lion in December 2002 as a financial analyst, doing much of what he did during his internship, including daily cash management, working with investors and helping to tell the Food Lion story to their public shareholders and bondholders, he said.

Over the years, he became the director of finance and helps mentor interns, a program he said he has a fondness for, working with the interns and sharing stories, and, it was noted, “is excited to give them the same opportunities he had when he was in their shoes.”

The corporate internships are a 12-week summer program, and over the past few years have brought in seven to nine corporate interns per year serving in many departments including marketing, finance and strategy.

In the program, Parsley said, they try to make sure several things take place, including that the interns “can walk right in and make a contribution in their own departments, and start off immediately helping us solve current, real problems with the organization.” 

Leslie Rasimas, communications manager at Food Lion, said that the company has grown and there have been changes as most companies have experienced, “but definitely for the better. We have owned our brand, strategy and culture, and I think those are three things that we do very well at Food Lion, and we take the time to instill in our interns during that program.”

She noted that all of the associates are contributors to who they are and “we think that’s also an important part of our internship program that you don’t just learn about finance if you are a finance intern, but you’re learning about all the different pieces of what makes Food Lion a unique company and how we run our business.” 

Parsley said that it had been several years since he had an intern working directly with him, but he has had multiple that he has mentored during his time with the company as well as interacting with others around him.

As for why he feels it is necessary to give back and help these interns, he said he felt it was important to “tell the stories of Food Lion, of what’s happened, the story of the business.”

Sharing the history and helping mentor the next generation of talent that comes in, he said, is valuable.

“They need to be mentored and nourished so they are ready to either come into Food Lion or wherever they go in their careers that they’re better prepared to hit the ground running,” Parsley said, adding that it’s important to help educate people.

Making the interns aware of the history of the organization and helping them to really know it are several things that Parsley said he would like to pass along to them.

Noting that Food Lion has been around for more than 60 years and knowing the stories he said, “helps you understand the context around why things exist the way they do,” but he added that it’s also important for them to understand they have the opportunity to make their own impact on the organization, and both are valued.

“Just because it has been done a certain way doesn’t mean it has to be done that way,” he said. 

In information shared about Food Lion’s corporate internship, it was noted that the “associates are the most important assets to our organization. Each associate contributes to the overall success of Food Lion, and in return, we strive to provide all associates with a fulfilling work experience.”

Interns are able, through the program, to develop leadership skills and business knowledge needed to begin their career, and the experience is a chance to work on projects that are meaningful and hands-on, it was shared.

During the program, interns have community service opportunities, have learning sessions and end of programs presentations with business leaders.

Applicants for the program must be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s program.

The class of 2024 is wrapping up their internship; however, those interested in learning more about the program for future opportunities can go to https://foodlion.careerswithus.com/early-talent/

Food Lion, which has expanded into 10 states with 1,100-plus stores, is a large company, said Rasimas, “but we have a very intimate personal relationship with our associates.”

She pointed out the special feeling that is evident in Salisbury and said that Parsley is a great example of “starting through our intern program and being here for 20 years. He’s a very visible person on the finance team, making lots of important decisions here and contributing to that culture.”

“My career path is a testament to the supportive and open culture at Food Lion, where leaders genuinely know and value associates,” said Parsley.