TOCA Internship – Marketing Communications

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
The Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) Foundation offers the TOCA marketing internship.

The marketing internship program is funded through the TOCA Foundation by Gardner & Gardner Communications (Den and Sandy) and former marketing and sales executive Jose Milan. Den founded TOCA in the late 1980s. Jose spent the majority of his career in the turf and ornamental chemical industry, working first for the legacy company Ciba-Geigy (now Syngenta) and later Bayer. Ciba-Geigy provided the seed money to create TOCA in the 1980s.

Under this new internship program, TOCA will coordinate the internship program and selection. TOCA member companies that are involved in public relations activities will host the intern. This is a five-year commitment by Milan and the Gardners.

Here are some details regarding the TOCA internship program.

  • Internship will be worth $5,000 — $4,000 as a stipend and $1,000 to be used to attend and assist in the execution of the TOCA annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, April 28 – 30, 2026. If the intern is not able to attend the meeting due to school obligations, the $1,000 can be used to assist in housing costs, if needed.
  • The internship will be 8-10 weeks long and begin approximately in May 2026.
  • Student applications are due March 27.
  • Intern will be chosen by a representative of the host organization, along with a representative of the sponsoring parties, and one board member.

Qualifications

  • Must be going into junior or senior year, and pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or public relations.
  • Excellent attention to detail
  • Ability to work in a team environment and meet deadlines.

2026 TOCA Marcomm Internship Program

This is an in-person internship.
Applications are due March 27, 2026 – start date will be in May 2026.

2026 TOCA Internship Host


Learn more about North Coast Media by visiting their website.

2026 Host: North Coast Media, 1360 E 9th Street, 10th Floor, Cleveland, OH  44114

The intern will get exposure to multiple aspects of marketing, including social media, digital marketing, PR, writing, collateral creation, custom media/projects, and event planning. The intern would participate in team meetings and potentially client calls to get a broad understanding of how a B2B media company’s marketing  and content marketing departments operate.

Examples of their responsibilities:

  • Assist with marketing campaign planning, execution, and analysis
  • Create, schedule, and publish content for social platforms
  • Research and draft articles for website, enewsletter, publication
  • Help organize an event – could be an internal lunch and learn or one of our Hall of Fame, Roundtable, or Summit events
  • Conduct or seek competitive or market research
  • Support team tasks, including sales PPT creation, best practice documents, promotion materials, etc.

Download the application here.

Contact Sandra O’Rourke at sandra@cornerwindowcommunications.com or 952-855-8712 for details.

2025 TOCA Intern – Taylor Kemp