Over the years, we’ve successfully grown Halfacre Construction Company into a 57-member team, ensuring that everyone that works with us fits the mold of our company culture. Many of our employees have come through our internship program, which we developed several years ago in order to create a successful career path for future employees.
This summer, we’re fortunate to have four college interns! Not only do we look forward to offering hands-on experience to those interested in the industry, but we also hope to see many of these hardworking individuals working with our team again in the future!
Meet the new team members below:
Hannah Scott
Senior at Florida Gulf Coast University
Q: What are you majoring in?
A: I am majoring in Digital Media Design with no special topic or minor.
Q: What interested you in this internship with Halfacre Construction?
A: I initially learned of Halfacre Construction through my mother, Tammi Dodson, who has been the marketing and proposal manager for over two years. I was looking to gain experience in the digital design field, and after learning about the inviting office environment and marketing responsibilities in the position, I decided to look into obtaining a summer internship at Halfacre. So far, I really enjoy it!
Q: What are some of your internship responsibilities?
A: I have a variety; I help craft proposals and create proposal libraries and assets that help Halfacre obtain construction projects. I also help design graphics for social media, order promotional material for career fairs and groundbreaking events, assist with budget spending, and create project sheets for newly completed projects, to name a few.
Q: What do you hope to take away from this internship?
A: I hope to leave this internship with newfound knowledge and experience within the digital design field, on top of securing connections with others in the office. I've already learned so much about marketing and social media management that I will carry with me through the rest of my time here and beyond!
Q: What career do you hope to have after college?
A: I am between a handful of career interests and am looking to pursue anything between the spectrum of social media management and graphic design with UI/UX or advert design specialties. This final year in college will be dedicated to finding that niche path that I will pursue beyond my higher education, but to give a straight answer - my ideal career will be design-oriented.
Solano Benitez
Sophomore at Santa Fe College
Q: What are you majoring in?
A: Building and construction sciences.
Q: What interested you in this internship with Halfacre Construction?
A: What mainly interested me about my internship with Halfacre was the work experience they were offering, as we work with big clients such as Sarasota County Schools and Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. Remodeling and maintaining buildings in big projects such as these helps really build character and teaches important skills such as timely scheduling and communication in the construction environment, something a book could never teach you.
Q: What are some of your internship responsibilities?
A: I make sure workers arrive at the job site on time and open any restricted access doors for them while also making sure that subcontractors are following the scope of work set for their specific criteria of the job. I also make daily logs of work activity, detailing the process of the job to make sure we're staying on schedule.
Q: What do you hope to take away from this internship?
A: Great work experience, but more importantly, the number of connections throughout the greater southwest Florida region that we encounter on a day-to-day basis.
Q: What career do you hope to have after college?
A: Hopefully one day I can own and operate my own general contracting company where I can teach and reaffirm to my future employees the values Halfacre has implemented onto me.
Jake Windham
Senior at the University of South Florida
Q: What are you majoring in?
A: Business management.
Q: What interested you in this internship with Halfacre Construction?
A: I have always been interested in the construction industry as my father is a General Contractor, and I was very excited when Halfacre gave me this opportunity.
Q: What are some of your internship responsibilities?
A: I meet and schedule times with subcontractors. I am on-site overseeing the work and communicating with upper management to keep the job running smoothly.
Q: What do you hope to take away from this internship?
A: I hope to grow my knowledge and management skills to further my career.
Q: What career do you hope to have after college?
A: After college, I hope to continue working in construction management.
Sebastian Windham
Senior at the University of Florida
Q: What are you majoring in?
A: Agricultural operations management.
Q: What interested you in this internship with Halfacre Construction?
A: Halfacre construction company was introduced to me by my cousins Travis and Jake Windham. I learned over several months how substantial the company is in providing general contracting services commercially over various parts of the Southwest Florida region. I have wanted to pursue a career in the commercial, civil and industrial construction sectors for a few years now. Halfacre Construction Company seemed like a perfect fit to introduce me to and strengthen the necessary skill sets that certain jobs would require of me.
Q: What are some of your internship responsibilities?
A: So far, I have been responsible for attending multiple subcontractor and preconstruction meetings that have taught me many new communication, scheduling and organizational skills. I am also responsible for overseeing and assisting subcontractors while they complete their jobs correctly in a safe and efficient manner. The autonomy that I have been granted has allowed me to strengthen my critical thinking skills on job sites and report anything that happens to my head superintendent and project manager so that they can properly account for and visualize ongoing projects.
Q: What do you hope to take away from this internship?
A: I hope to continue to strengthen my communication and organizational skills while balancing various project scopes with a greater amount of sustainability.
Q: What career do you hope to have after college?
A: In the future after college, I would like to obtain more responsibility and control a greater number of projects with larger scopes with the same company. I also hope to meet more and more admirable people and role models along the way!