Friday, June 20, 2014

The Newest Bunch of Interns is Here and Working Hard



Springer-Peterson is well known locally for its summer college internship program. Starting this program back in 2011, we wanted to create an experience that would help the students foster professional skills while also benefiting our company by enlisting the skills of bright young minds. 

Here's how it works: The students keep us on our toes and up-to-date, and we give them a strong platform to exercise their abilities and challenge them with projects that help them grow. 

This year, we have our largest group of interns ever! We have several young men working on-site with our Service Team, responding to repair calls and fixing roofs. We also have a few interns working in our corporate office. These students are currently enrolled at a college or university in Florida, majoring in a similar department to their line of work here. They work for us full-time to get the that very necessary "real world" experience. 

Our field interns are Alex Mack, Devonte Mack, Zach Huffstickler, and Chris Hart. These boys work practically from sunrise all through the day, traveling to and from different job sites in order to service roofs that are having issues. They are mentored by our experienced foreman and will gain extensive knowledge of the logistics and details essential to the roofing industry. Our Service Department has 24/7 Emergency Repair hours, and our interns are not exempt from those special circumstances! If a repair request comes through in the middle of the night, they are on the list of workers to call. With this type of dedication and willingness required, we are sure these interns will leave with a new, more enlightened perspective on our industry. We pride ourselves in the opportunity to educate and train the roofing industry's next generation of leaders. 

Inside our home office in Lakeland, you will also find college interns spread throughout. This year we have four corporate interns, something we've never done before. Unlike the field interns, these students are assigned very different positions within our company. Gabby Molleda, studying Psychology and Advertising/Public Relations at Florida Southern College, is our official office receptionist (and everyone's personal assistant). She is honing her communications skills and mastering the art of organization. Rachel Heidegger, a Public Relations major at the University of Florida, is our in-house Marketing Coordinator. This is a new department for SP, and is something we are very excited about expanding. Rachel is managing our social media accounts, email marketing, and website updates. Jakob Contat, a fellow University of Florida Gator, is working in the Estimating Department, improving our data-management software. Ashley Skaggs, a graduate student studying Education at the University of Central Florida, is interning in the Customer Service Department. She handles invoicing and client communication, as well as any other office need in the Service Department.

This summer is sure to bring lots of good change and promise to our company, as every summer does when we are blessed with hard-working students.