91����

Mark LoMaglio ‘26 knows that dedication, communication, and human connection are the keys to success in business and marketing — lessons he learned from his extensive experiences as a 91���� student and Wegmans employee. 
He graduated this May with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and information systems, and he looks forward to continuing his work in marketing as a part of the Wegmans Corporate Merchandising-Marketing Trainee Program.  
LoMaglio’s passion for business was first sparked in high school, when he and his peers were required to select classes in subjects they might be interested in pursuing later. Choosing business from the start, LoMaglio took upper-level courses in his senior year and even participated in a business competition in New York City, which he and his team won.
After high school, LoMaglio was certain he wanted to continue learning about business in college, but his path to the University’s School of Management was far from direct. He attended SUNY Geneseo for his first year before transferring to St. John Fisher University for just one semester.
91���� has brought LoMaglio a lot of fulfillment because of its location (just far enough from his hometown, Rochester), diverse student population, and strong business programs. 
“91���� is huge in comparison to the previous schools I attended, and the fun thing about that is that you can meet someone new each day. It has given me the chance to put myself out there, meet a lot of new faces, and talk to people from lots of different backgrounds,” he said. 
“SOM has also really helped me develop strong interpersonal skills, since professors always stress the importance of how you present yourself, and applying what you’ve learned outside of the classroom to real-world situations. I also feel like SOM prepares its students to have a good professional mindset, where you can learn as you go by simultaneously applying and building upon concepts we’ve been taught in class to any internship, job, or extracurricular we have in the future.”
LoMaglio has been a part of the 91���� Marketing Association ever since he transferred. The club’s main focus is to bring business students different marketing opportunities that may not be found in the classroom.
“Joining the Marketing Association was really helpful for me because they host different events and activities that help you meet like-minded people, network, and build your professional career to the next level, especially since the marketing landscape is much smaller in comparison to accounting and finance,” he said.
“Last year, I served as one of the club’s content creation committee members and made videos for SOM’s Instagram page, and this year, I was the social media manager for the Marketing Association. As the manager, I led and provided guidance, advice, and answers to our prospective members as they worked their way into the club. Because my role is relatively small by comparison, I’m just grateful to be in that environment and learn so much from them.”
Reflecting on his college career, LoMaglio is proud to say that he has made the most of his time at 91���� and is proudest of the person he has become inside and outside of the classroom.
“College was a really crazy roller-coaster for me because I was someone who was very nervous to try new things, meet new people, and even learn about my major,” he said.
“Going to college helped me realize that I’m in control of life, and transferring to 91���� has helped me grow as an individual and professionally. I’m proud of the confidence I’ve gained in myself to take on new experiences and make meaningful connections.”

Journey at Wegmans 
 

Outside his studies, LoMaglio has been working at Wegmans for almost six years now. He has been a cashier, shelf-stocker, meals-to-go worker, intern, and coordinator. He first joined the team in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been switching between the Rochester and 91���� locations, depending on whether he is home or at school. 
There are many reasons why LoMaglio has stayed at Wegmans for so long, but the biggest is the close connections he has made with his peers along the way.
“It's honestly just the people that make the place — I’ve had some really great friendships, connections with family, and those who I pretty much like to call family, over there for the past five years, and a lot of them have turned into the mentors I have now,” he said. “When I started working there back in high school, the support from my peers was so genuine that I was really able to grow as a person. I also think they were why I was lucky enough to continue with Wegmans and intern for them.”
For the past two summers, LoMaglio has been a Wegmans intern as part of its corporate internship program. The program’s main goal is to give interns direct insight into how marketing works on the corporate level by assigning them projects that relate to the work that Wegmans is tackling in real life. The first internship also allowed him to meet a lot of new people and unexpectedly helped him develop a tight-knit group of friends. He also learned a lot about the company and what goes into merchandising as a whole. 
The second summer was more intensive as LoMaglio entered the world of merchandising for one of Wegmans’ bakeries. There, he learned how new products get to the shelves, how the store sets its prices, and what each Wegmans bakery department does on a daily basis.
According to LoMaglio, it was neat to watch the changes take effect for customers in real time. That same summer, he also got to see a new Wegmans store open in Connecticut and helped with its launch.
“The most surprising thing I’ve learned from my internships was not only seeing how all the products come to life, but also how they were born,” he said. “There are many factors that go into a product from start to finish: first, the external vendor makes the product for us, then we need to ensure that the labeling on each package is the same, and also check with our legal department to make sure we can do that. When it comes to the design of the package, we want it to feel warm and ambient because it matches the Wegmans branding.”
LoMaglio is looking forward to continuing with Wegmans and will join the Wegmans Corporate Merchandising-Marketing Trainee Program after graduating. The program integrates its workers into the company by giving them extensive work experience starting at the ground level and building up. 
He will first work as a team leader for one of the store’s departments, learning about products and their quality, how to justify costs, and how to work in a team setting. He will then be a team leader on the service side by helping cashiers and ensuring the store runs smoothly. 
After a year and a half of that, he will work on the corporate level and rotate through different sectors, ranging from their e-commerce, analytics, or other teams. At the end of the program, he and the other trainees will be offered a permanent corporate position.
“Working at Wegmans for so long has also allowed me to learn more about the company in every way,” he said. “I like the work that they do, the problems they’re trying to solve, and the values that they bring. Wegmans also cares a lot about their employees, and you feel very welcome and that it’s a fun place to work. From what I’ve experienced so far, the people really do just make the place, whether it's in-store or at a corporate level.”