KENT, OH — Gilbane Building Company has completed Crawford Hall, a new facility for Kent State University’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. This project provided unique opportunities for Kent State students, with construction management majors contributing directly to the building of their own campus through internships with Gilbane.
Giana Testa, a construction management major, can say that she was instrumental in the construction of an entire building. Testa began as an Intern with Gilbane in the summer of 2022, right after the groundbreaking of Crawford Hall. Having recently completed her third summer with Gilbane, she saw the building grow to its final status on the university’s Kent Campus.
“Often with internships, you only get a summer with a project or a team,” Testa said. “With this internship, I’ve been with the same project and team for three summers. It’s been really cool to see the project transition from groundbreaking to being complete. I’ve learned every phase of the project and built strong relationships that I know will help me in the future.”
Testa is only one of the success stories on the project. Other interns — some now full-time Gilbane employees — assisted on the project as well. Interns completed daily activities including estimating, monitoring daily progress, expanding software knowledge, and understanding risk management throughout the construction of Crawford Hall.
The project also allowed full-time Gilbane employees to engage with and mentor younger professionals just starting out in their careers. Alex Harris, Project Manager at Gilbane, became a leader for interns across the Cleveland, Ohio, area. While working on Crawford Hall, Harris simultaneously led the co-op college internship program and mentored those just starting out in their careers.
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“I was educating those starting in their career while building a key educational building for future students,” Harris said. “Not many people get to say they surrounded themselves with education in their field, but Gilbane has offered me the opportunity to not only teach but also learn.”
