The daughter of a Shoney’s entrepreneur, Alexia Biafore grew up on the forefront of the restaurant industry.

In high school, she set her sights on a medical profession, but by the time her 2009 BHS graduation drew near, she was aiming in another career direction.

Four years later, she has landed a good job in her targeted field.

When she graduates in May from WVU’s business management program, Biafore will work as a Pittsburgh-based executive team leader for Target.

The position was the result of one of the most unique internship partnerships which WVU’s School of Business & Economics has ever been involved, the success of which led to Biafore being named student ambassador.

Biafore completed a 10-week executive internship with Bridgeport’s Target store, but she has also served as the retail company’s WVU campus liaison, working with professional organizations, university classrooms, local job fairs and other events.

“What she has done is reestablished the visibility of the organization and she goes into classrooms talking about career paths, opportunities and internships which integrates her Target experience with the academic experience,” said Susan Robison of WVU’s Center for Career Development. “That’s exactly what we’re looking for in our interns. I give her five stars and all thumbs up.”

WVU’s internship program has involved some Morgantown-based businesses which develop internships into on-campus liaison positions in which interns promote those businesses in the classroom.

“Alexia actually has gone a step further and is not only a liaison, but a goodwill advocate for that organization,” Robison said. “She has a passion for marketing and is great at it, but she also loves Target. When you love something, you can sell it to anyone. She’s one of those kinds of people.”

When working with her student peers, Biafore said she promotes Target, as well as good interview and resume skills.

“I can help them build their resume and show them what a Fortune 500 company is looking for,” she said.

The program works, in part, because students listen and relate to their peers.

“I’m someone their age and I’m living proof that if you do it right, you can get a job,” Biafore said.

Her liaison work has provided students with first-hand information which they had not yet had an opportunity to learn, said SHRM Faculty Advisor and Professor Suzanne Gosden Kitchen.

“Alexia was able to make a connection to academic work as it applied to the real world,” she said. “She came into the classroom with something seen through a different lens than most of her peers.”

Biafore’s skills and career passion are further being spread through her involvement in SHRM – the Society for Human Resource Management.*

She and three other students comprise an undergraduate team which will compete March 8 and 9 in Alexandria, Va.

In that competition, students solve hypothetical problems by apply information they’ve learned about employment relations, compensation benefits and several other human resource issues.

“They present their solution to a panel of judges and they decide to advances to the next round,” Kitchen said.

The daughter of Denise (Gillespie) and John Biafore said her background played a major role in the development of her career.

“My mom ran Shoney’s and also Boomerangs and I always worked for her in the restaurant industry,” she said.

That experience provided her with a look into several different aspects of business and employee relations. A longtime passion for shopping helped her find her niche in that industry, she said.

She will miss Bridgeport, but looks forward to her Pittsburgh venture and to finding out which Target store she will be stationed.
“There are only five in West Virginia, but there are so many in the Pittsburgh area,” she said. “A store opens in March at the South Hills Mall and they’re looking at putting me there, but that’s not set in stone.”

Biafore will, of course, be furnishing her apartment with Target merchandise, she said. 

 

Read more about Biafore at http://be.wvu.edu/news_events/alexia_biafore/index.htm .

*City of Bridgeport Director of Personnel/Assistant City Manager Jimmy Smith serves as president of the North Central West Virginia Chapter of SHRM.