BUILDING THE BUILDERS
WHY INDUSTRY LEADERS OWE THE NEXT GENERATION MORE THAN A PAYCHECK
By Sarah LeBlanc
The next generation of cranes on the skyline, ribbon-cuttings, and projects delivered on time and on budget will depend on people who haven’ t entered the industry yet. Construction is dealing with a well-documented labor shortage, and the companies that come out ahead won’ t be the ones with the strongest backlog alone. They’ ll be the ones that spent years putting real time and money into the students, tradespeople, and early-career professionals who will eventually run the jobsites, design the buildings, and manage the projects still to come. That’ s smart business. It’ s also, for the companies that got where they are because someone once trained them, mentored them, or took a chance on them, something closer to an obligation. A paycheck covers the work someone does today. It doesn’ t cover what a company owes the people who’ ll be doing that work in twenty years.
At Jewett Construction, that work is already underway. The company shows up at college fairs and sends employees into classrooms to talk with future construction, architecture, and engineering graduates about what a career in the built environment actually looks like. Last summer, Jewett ran a gamified introduction to the industry for middle schoolers, aimed in part at opening young women’ s eyes to career paths they might not otherwise consider. For the past two years, Jewett has also offered a trade scholarship to a graduating New Hampshire high school senior heading into the trades, a direct investment in the workforce the region will need.
The biggest piece of it, though, is Jewett’ s summer internship program, and how it got to where it is today says a lot about what happens when a company lets its own alumni take the wheel.
The program is now run by Brooke DesRoche, who did two internships with Jewett before being hired full-time. Brooke is an assistant superintendent at the company now and has a reputation for going above and beyond for her team, her clients, and the industry itself.
Jewett Construction intern Ethan H.( on left) joins a superintendent for an elevated view of the Hyundai project located in Westborough, Mass.
8 NEXTGEN AEC STUDENT EDITION 2026