Agricultural Business Student Spotlight: Reid Jacobs

Besides finishing his last semester of classwork, Fresno State agricultural business student Reid Jacobs had a busy spring preparing for his career in other ways.

He also competed with his classmates at the National Agri-Marketing Association case study contest in St. Louis, and commuted back and forth to his job at Adair and Evans, an accounting firm in Hanford.

The Lemoore native also gained important experience in prior years as a research assistant for a walnut industry project overseen by Fresno State faculty Dr. Annette Levi and Dr. Jason (Jiaochen) Liang.

Read more about his background and what's ahead in this recent interview.

 

Why did you choose to attend Fresno State and why were you drawn towards your degree area?

“Although I wanted to leave home for college I didn’t want to leave the Valley because I love it. Fresno State offered a great agricultural business program as well as being local. I’m currently an agricultural business major with a focus on accounting. I hope to use my agricultural business degree to become a CPA with a focus in agricultural accounting, and I plan on staying local, within Kings, Tulare, or Fresno County.”

 

Did you have any other family members that are Fresno State graduates?

“I’m the first in my family to go to Fresno State.”

 

Have you done any internships/part-time jobs while at Fresno State, and and what skills did they help you develop?

“I’ve worked as a research assistant to faculty Dr. (Anette) Levi and Dr. (Jason) Liang back in 2020. I was excited to grow better relationships with local walnut growers, as well as other producers who I hopefully will get the opportunity to do business with more in the future after graduation. That experience really helped me develop and refine my skills with Excel and become more comfortable surveying growers out of the blue. They have also helped guide me throughout the research process, which has been awesome to see evolve and grow.”

“As a freshman, Dr. Levi was always super helpful to me in and out of the classroom and helped motivate me to go to the ag business club meetings and apply for the research assistant position itself. Another professor that greatly influenced my scholastic career has been Dr. Berends, who helped me to realize my passion for accounting.”

“I have also enjoyed working with Adair & Evans, an accountancy corporation in Hanford, where I have refined my tax planning skills. I work as an accountant on audits, and am excited to continue getting hands-on experience as I work towards CPA licensure, and have gone from an intern to a full-time employee.” 

 

Have you received any scholarships related to campus, the Jordan College and/or Ag One?  

“I have received the Ag One Ed Baloian and Britton family scholarships for which I am extremely grateful”.

 

Have you traveled to any conferences and made any presentations/attended lectures/etc.?

“In 2019 I went with the ag business club to the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) conference in Anaheim. I also went to the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) conference in 2023 to compete on behalf of Fresno State in St. Louis. It was a great time and fruitful learning experience, which I was happy to  be a part of.” 

 

What is your background in agriculture before you started at Fresno State?

“My family owns a 20-acre pistachio orchard back home in Lemoore, and we have been an ag family for many years.”