{"id":14882,"date":"2017-03-30T20:24:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T20:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/?p=14882"},"modified":"2017-04-12T20:32:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T20:32:54","slug":"suffolk-constructions-career-start-program-celebrates-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/2017\/03\/30\/suffolk-constructions-career-start-program-celebrates-10-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Suffolk Construction\u2019s Career Start program celebrates 10 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Program is the foundation of national builder\u2019s revolutionary Build Smart approach<\/em><\/p>\n

ESTERO,\u00a0Fla.\u00a0(March 30, 2017) \u2013\u00a0Suffolk Construction<\/a>\u00a0launched its internal Career Start program in 2007 as a\u00a0\u201cboot camp\u201d for its \u201cbuild smart\u201d approach to construction management.<\/p>\n

A decade later, 179 employees have graduated from the program nationally, and the company is seeing an incredibly high retention rate among graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cCareer Start is the foundation for our revolutionary approach to construction and our \u2018build smart\u2019 philosophy,\u201d said Vice President of Operations Josh Christensen. \u201cThis is where we begin to develop and support the innovative, curious and forward-thinking construction professionals who will become leaders for our company.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cUnlike many companies that offer development courses as an added perk, our state-of-the-art learning and development programs are absolutely critical to our success,\u201d said Pete Tuffo, chief operating officer for Suffolk Construction\u2019s southeast region. \u201cCareer Start offers a solid foundation of skills that ultimately help our people consistently deliver quality projects while exceeding client expectations. Our technical course offerings teach our people the construction management skills necessary to build quality buildings on time and on budget, while our leadership training courses reinforce our focus on collaboration and communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the recent active construction market, Suffolk has leveraged its Career Start program to bolster recruiting efforts and develop new hires. The Career Start program provides recent college graduates with eight-month rotations in each of the company’s main operational areas: project management, field operations and preconstruction. During the program, the employee\u2019s skills and competencies are identified and nurtured with the help of a personal mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a Career Start participant graduates, he or she has a full understanding of our unique \u2018build smart\u2019 approach to providing the best experience for our clients and partners,\u201d said Christensen.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re fully prepared to provide\u00a0innovative\u00a0solutions using processes such as\u00a0Lean Construction\u00a0and\u00a0Virtual\u00a0Design\u00a0and\u00a0Construction\u00a0(VDC). And the level of talent with these young professionals is extraordinary to watch, especially as it relates to technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suffolk provides a carefully planned learning environment to encourage career growth. While a college degree is required, a degree in building construction or a related major is not. In fact, some of the company\u2019s most recent Career Start hires hold degrees in political science, economics, sociology, engineering and more. The company attributes much of its success to this outside-the-box approach to recruiting new talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Career Start program provided me with a truly hands-on, real world approach to construction management,\u201d said Mike Trenski, 2016 graduate of the program. \u201cSwitching from a career in software development, I was put in a position to learn from the best and brightest in all three major operational areas of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trenski now serves as an assistant project manager working on Suffolk\u2019s Moorings Park Grey Oaks \u2013 Phase 4 project in Naples.<\/p>\n

Current Career Start participant Jack Hernandez works alongside Trenski as a project engineer at Moorings Park and, similar to Trenski, didn\u2019t have a background in construction. Hernandez graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2016 with a degree in accounting.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing into the Career Start program, I wasn\u2019t sure how involved I\u2019d be with the day-to-day operations as a newcomer, but the project teams have fully engaged me which has accelerated the learning process, especially with the tools and technologies that Suffolk uses,\u201d said Hernandez.<\/p>\n

Currently on his project management rotation, Hernandez is supporting the team with implementing safety, budget and schedule certainty as well as the quality control process.<\/p>\n

Suffolk\u2019s investment in learning and development is significant, and the company utilizes its most experienced and knowledgeable staff members to serve as instructors for its customized curricula.<\/p>\n

For Suffolk General Manager Jeff Gouveia, Jr., investing in such a robust professional and personal development program simply makes good business sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to remember a time when learning and development wasn\u2019t at the core of the company,\u201d said Gouveia, who has been with the company for more than 20 years. \u201cOur focus on hiring people who share our core values and then supporting them to become the very best construction professionals in the industry has really allowed us to transform the experience for our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the unique rotational format and the people who have served as my mentors, Career Start is giving me a solid foundation for my career in construction management,\u201d said current Career Start participant Jovi Ripert, who joined Suffolk after graduating from Stanford University in civil and environmental engineering in 2016.<\/p>\n

Ripert is currently assisting on various local projects while completing his first rotation in the estimating department.<\/p>\n

Mentors help familiarize new Career Start participants with the company\u2019s strong corporate culture and processes while providing support and encouragement for a more productive work environment and shortened learning curve. Senior advisors are also assigned to each employee to help maintain continuity throughout the entire Career Start program, ensuring they have completed all rotations successfully and providing input to properly place the employee into the most appropriate position and department upon completion.<\/p>\n

The investment in the program has clearly paid off. A number of graduates remain with Suffolk and have since grown into senior leadership roles. Andy Frank, a graduate of one of the very first Career Start classes in Boston, now serves as a senior project manager on the Ritz Residences project in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Career Start program demonstrated the company\u2019s investment in my growth, and since then, I\u2019ve been able to continue building my skills and accelerating my career, all with continued support from the company and my peers,\u201d said Frank.<\/p>\n

Suffolk\u2019s training program has been ranked number one in the construction industry by Training Magazine, and the company has consistently been named to numerous \u2018best workplace\u2019 lists throughout the country, including\u00a0Florida Trend\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Best Companies to Work for in Florida and\u00a0South Florida Business Journal\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Best Places to Work.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say, the connection between employee satisfaction and Suffolk\u2019s investment in the development of its people is no coincidence.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Andy Frank<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Peter Tuffo<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Mike Trenski<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Josh Christensen<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Jack Hernandez<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Jeff Gouveia<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Program is the foundation of national builder\u2019s revolutionary Build Smart approach ESTERO,\u00a0Fla.\u00a0(March 30, 2017) \u2013\u00a0Suffolk Construction\u00a0launched its internal Career Start program in 2007 as a\u00a0\u201cboot camp\u201d for its \u201cbuild smart\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[7014,5209],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}