Stuart, FL  -  Ocean Gate General Contractor’s Inc. has always had an active summer intern program, offering opportunities to convert  classroom learning into the energy of real life.  This summer is no exception.  This year our company has added Austin Gordon from Indian River Atlantic College, and Calib Tuning from the University of Florida.

Calib Tuning is completing his junior year at UF’s Rinker School of Construction Management.  His introduction to the construction industry began at the family business, Atlantic Plastering in Jupiter.  He remembers joining his father on a scaffold when he was 11, wearing a hard hat and listening to his father.  At 13, when summer vacation began, his father asked him what he wanted to do for the summer: "Play sports or work?", and Calib answered," Work".  Calib has been working ever since, paying his own way through school.    At Ocean Gate, Calib has been learning to estimate the values of materials needed to build a project in the estimating department, and helping with finish work on projects. 

Austin Gordon’s story is  compelling.  He is from Virginia and applied to AmeriCorps to give back to the community and help pay his way through school.  He was accepted just after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, so he was assigned as a volunteer to Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi , helping build more than 170 homes for families who lost their homes.  After more than 2,000 hours of community service, Habitat for Humanity brought Austin on to their payroll and he stayed on to continue building.  “I love construction.  I will continue to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity wherever I go, it is a great program.  My goal now is to complete my education in Construction Management or civil engineering.", he says  Austin is completing his sophomore year at Indian River State College, and plans to transfer to Virginia Tech’s Construction Management program.At Ocean Gate, Austin has been in the field helping start up Ocean Gate's Pioneer Park project in Fort Pierce, and assisting the construction team in the  home office.

Chandler Aden, Vice President of Operation and the lead on the summer intern program sees real value in the program.  "These are the brightest with a strong work ethic, and we would welcome them back after they graduate.", Aden said.  Four people have been hired who have graduated from the UF Rinker School.