2019 News

Interns Turn Theory Into Practice As New School Year Begins

Interns Turn Theory Into Practice As New School Year Begins
08.16.2019

As our 18 summer interns prepared to head back to school, they recapped their Baker Group experiences at a recent company meeting. Students talked about lessons learned in effective management, company culture, mentor/mentee relationships, training opportunities, and the benefits of working in a positive, collaborative environment. For example, on the topics of …

Teamwork – Kayla Youngblood says, “From the first few weeks at Baker Group, I felt like a part of the team. From sitting in on job meetings to helping with an estimate, I felt like I truly had an impact and could help the team in a unique way!”  

Turning Theory into Practice – Kyle Wendt says, “Being able to see installed material and how information was collected at a jobsite helped me see the connection to tasks I was doing in the office. Overall, being able to go out and visit actual jobsites allowed me to connect how both material and information flow from office to shop and out to the site.”

Real-life Education: Joseph Townsend says, “This internship has taught me many things that have not been covered in school. I have no doubt that when I return to school what I have learned at Baker Group will help me be a more efficient student and problem solver.”

Russ Acton, Project Manager, who helps lead Baker Group’s intern program, adds, “We strive to make the experience an educational one for each intern. Based on their individual educational pursuits, each intern focused on a specific area of our company – Mechanical, Industrial, Civil, Engineering, Sheet Metal, Electrical, Automation, Service, Fire & Security, Safety, Accounting and IT – in Des Moines or the Quad Cities.

“Our internship program provides a win-win opportunity. Interns get practical, real-life exposure to the construction industry and we get to work with some of the best and brightest students who may one day enter our industry – and maybe even Baker Group.”

For their contributions, Baker Group would like to thank each of our 2019 summer interns, representing:

DMACC: Heather Barber

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: Collin Blatchford, Eulises Landa, Dhruvita Patel, Kayla Youngblood, Tyrell Erb, Nathan Fromm, Declan O’Brien, Samuel Pape, Kevin Parker, Jacob Thorpe-Swihart, Kyle Wendt, Brian Whitley, Redi Aebischer, Jordan Girolamo, Joseph Townsend

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: Cole Borwick

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA: Sam Munsell

About Baker Group

Founded in 1963 and with 650 employees across Iowa, Baker Group is the Midwest’s premier full-service specialty contractor providing mechanical, sheet metal, electrical, compressed air, building automation, process automation, security systems, fire alarm systems, parking/revenue controls and 24/7/365 service. For more information, call 855.262.4000 or visit https://www.thebakergroup.com/.

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