MAYSVILLE, OK — As the workforce crisis wears on across nearly every industry, commercial baking companies are constantly on the lookout for not only new employees but also recruitment ideas.

Burford Corp., a Middleby Company, has benefitted from a local high school program that led an engineering hopeful right to the door of this equipment supplier.

Ronan Little, a senior at Purcell High School in neighboring Purcell, OK, reached out to Burford expressing interest in a professional internship/apprentice program that would allow him to work at the manufacturer for two hours, twice a week, for a full semester.

After struggling to find success in a class that was unrelated to his career goals, Little worked with his school to find something directly connected to his vision for his future career.

“I needed an alternative that would possibly help me in college or my future,” Little said. “We were looking at companies in the area that had engineering-related work where they could really help me.”

Little learned about Burford Corp. from a family friend who works for the company.

“We had never done anything like this, but we said, ‘Why not?’” said Megan Sutton, HR manager at Burford Corp. “It was a way to partner with the community, not just the high school.”

Little’s interest in engineering comes from a love of mathematics and hands-on work. And while his aspirations are aimed at aerospace, engineering work and equipment manufacturing for the baking industry has been a pleasant surprise for him.

“I’ve never looked at a bakery as doing all this, but when I come to work, I get to make a lot of different things, and that was surprising,” Little said. “It’s also helped me learn a lot more about the engineering aspect of this work.”

Little’s internship creates firsthand exposure to the manufacturing process and teaches him specific skills he’ll need when pursuing an engineering-related education and career.