Building the Future: Meet EV’s Summer Interns

For the past couple months, our team has welcomed five individuals with futures in construction as summer interns. Our internship program is designed to provide hands-on learning experiences, mentorship, and opportunities for growth for the next generation of construction professionals. This year, we’re excited to introduce you to our five summer interns who are eager to learn, grow, and make a lasting impact on our team.

From engineering and architecture to project management and interior design, our interns come from diverse backgrounds and bring unique skills and perspectives to the table. Through this internship program, we’re not only investing in the future of our industry but also fostering a culture of innovation, teamwork, and community. Our interns have had the opportunity to work on real-world projects, collaborate with our team, and develop skills that will serve them well in their future careers.

In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to our five summer interns and give you a glimpse into who they are, what they’re learning, and how they’re making an impact at EV Construction.

Ethan Britton

An Interior Design major and Construction Management minor, Ethan Britton joined us this summer from California Baptist University as a Project Management intern. At a United Heath Services project site, Britton’s main tasks consist of “submitting RFIs and submittals through Procore, picking up trash and sweeping job site areas, photographing in-wall blocking before drywall, helping out general trades with any day-to-day work that needs to be done or is urgent, and sitting in on various meetings for the project”. This hands-on learning approach has been his favorite part of the internship program, where the processes he learned about in the classroom are happening and handled firsthand.

Britton’s biggest takeaway from his experience is the importance of coordination and relationships. “Good relations with trade partners need to be held to a high standard and are vital for a smooth project. There needs to be a balance when putting pressure on trade contractors while also supporting and celebrating them. As well as how interactions with the owners may be tense, but handling rough situations with professionalism and solid ground is vital.”

He is thankful for the opportunity because it “has allowed me to understand what my career would look like day by day and allowed me to live it out to some extent for the summer months. It has held up to my high expectations thus far learning about the construction industry and learning from a large portion of EV staff and the unique talents that they bring to EV”.

Isabella Camarota

Gonzaga University student Isabella Camarota, a Civil Engineering major and Entrepreneurial Leadership minor, took on the role of a Preconstruction intern. She was drawn to the opportunity “because of the ability to see how construction drawings and plans are developed and then used all the way from design to a finished product”. Her daily tasks include “doing takeoffs, sitting in on project meetings, and calling trades with to personally deliver messages”, as well as applying her newly learned skills in Building Connected and Bluebeam.

An important part of the internship program is exposure to many facets of the company, and Camarota’s favorite experiences consist of site visits. “I am mainly in the office but my visits to different sites helped me to learn how what I was working on transfers to a physical product. When on-site, everyone was very willing and excited to explain what was going on and the challenges and successes occurring with the project”.

Camarota’s experience affirmed that she “enjoy[s] having a position that has both office and field aspects. This internship made it very easy to see the value of seeing what you are working on in the office in the field and how that process helps you to understand what is happening and learn faster.”

Caleb Davis

Caleb Davis, a Bethel University student receiving a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Physics, has been a Field Management Intern at Pine Rest. Although this role does not directly align with his major, he “did not see a better opportunity at other internships to develop my communication, leadership, mental aptitude, technical skills, and determination. I wanted an internship where I could learn, and I saw EV giving exactly that opportunity”.

Davis’ onsite routine is comprised of “collecting information for the daily log, taking pictures of progress and problems for Procore, talking and problem-solving with the trade contractors, sitting in on BIM, structural, RFI/submittal, owner, or precast meetings, and working on miscellaneous tasks both onsite and in the trailer”.

Throughout the internship program, Davis developed skills that he is excited to apply to his future career. “This internship teaches me to communicate expectations with trade contractors older than me while simultaneously working alongside them to get things done. Another thing I am learning is problem-solving. I have improved in responding to them quickly and effectively, asking for help when needed. Most importantly, I have learned the value of consistent hard work. Sometimes it is difficult to give full attention to my work; when I do, my understanding of the project increases, and I find value in my contribution”. Davis has seen firsthand EV’s approach to success, and will apply that to his goal to work in management in a technical field. “They (EV) value excellence in quality, safety, and timeliness. I aspire to carry this standard of excellence into my future career”.

Mackenzie Novakoski

Studying Architecture with a minor in Spanish at Andrews University, Mackenzie Novakoski has joined EV as a Marketing and Experience intern. This dual role consists of working in the office with the Marketing Team and driving the EV Sweets and Treats Ice Cream Truck for the Experience Team.

For the marketing team, Novakoski’s daily tasks range from editing project sheets and attending meetings to updating websites and designing graphics. Her favorite experience from this aspect of the program has been “getting to help plan, film, and edit videos. They are such an important piece of media that represent the company, and it has been fun working on different projects. The biggest video I got to help with was a safety video in Spanish. There has been so many opportunities to apply what I’ve been learning in school to the company.”

For the Experience Team, Novakoski attends 2-3 events a week with the ice cream truck. The occasions include job site cookouts, client appreciation, and community events. “I love getting to hand out free ice cream, and people will ask ‘why?’. EV is built around people, which means making people smile! Spreading the EV brand has been so much fun, from job sites and clients to senior homes and preschool graduations”.

Throughout her internship, Novakoski recognized the importance of communication and how to apply that to her future profession. “I realized that I have to have a career with people interaction, which an architect has a lot of. From communicating with clients to trade contractors, a good designer is involved in the entire process”. Although she hopes to enter the industry as an architect, “getting to see the construction side has been so eye-opening. From crafting proposals to seeing the finished building, I have a greater understanding of the process and how I can brand myself as a better architect”.

Ethan Stempky

Ethan Stempky, a construction engineering student at University of Utah, has been working at a Resthaven project site alongside the field managers. His day-to-day task mainly consists of “managing the site’s punch list. This includes identifying punch items (anything relating to completeness or quality), documenting and distributing via Procore, and reviewing the items as they get completed”. Besides being on his site, Stempky has had many opportunities to “attend meetings in the office, visit different sites, and meet other employees and executives”.

A big takeaway for Stempky this summer has been the importance of good communication. “Staying on schedule, mitigating risk, and managing conflicts all relate to the success of a project, and they cannot be done without efficient communication. My biggest takeaway is to keep learning and improving my professional communication skills to set myself up for success in the future.”

Stempky is excited to stay on track for a career in construction, as working at EV has “expanded my knowledge of the construction industry and specifically project management. It helped me bridge the gap between my education and real-world experience, and I feel more confident in my career choice”.

As we near the end of the summer internship program, it’s clear that our interns have made a lasting impact on the EV Construction team. From hands-on learning experiences to mentorship and growth opportunities, each of them has had a unique and rewarding experience. Thank you to our interns for their hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication – we can’t wait to see what the future holds for them!