Concordia College Selma business administration majors had the opportunity to observe and participate in a production line Friday after a new partnership was forged between Concordia and Bush Hog.

Ten students reported to the Bush Hog plant in Selma Friday morning to shadow production line managers and even work in shipping departments for a full day, complete with several educational training sessions.

“We got the students some steel-toed shoes and safety glasses and their energy level in doing this was surprisingly very good,” Tyrone Trawick, plant operations manager for Bush Hog said. “What I noticed is that the students were really energetic about doing this and I was really surprised at their eagerness and willingness to get involved.”

Trawick said Bush Hog would one day like to be in the position where all of the talent being developed in Selma, in schools like Concordia, could be brought on board to the company if the opportunity presented itself.

The students, after spending more than eight hours in the plant were smiling while reflecting on their day of practicum experience and business administration major Jessica Johnson said the work was harder than she expected.

“I was in the packaging and shipping area. It seems simple, but it is not — let me tell you, those pieces of equipment are heavy, sometimes 90 pounds,” Johnson said and admitted that she has a new found respect for the people that do the jobs in that department. “It seemed really hard to me but everyone said the real work doesn’t really start until after we leave today at like 2:30 p.m.”

Glenn King Jr., assistant professor of business administration said the whole idea of the day spent at Bush Hog with his students was to give them hands on experience.

“We take several classes and we tailor a field experience with that particular opportunity to explore some practicum along with that theoretical knowledge,” King said in regard to the production management class he took from Concordia to Bush Hog for the day. “One thing I noticed, is that they learned a lot of the theoretical knowledge we have been learning in class and they were able to tie it into what you do on a day to day basis with production.”

David Middlebrooks, human resources manager for Bush Hog, said he thought this was a great opportunity for the students to see what they are learning with a real life application.

“I think its an excellent opportunity for us to allow the students to see how they can apply what they are being taught,” Middlebrooks said. “It’s also an opportunity to let them see how this is applied in a manufacturing facility and hopefully help them with some career decisions down the road.”