Building
Potential

Bowersock, a 2016 engineering graduate of UC, started at Turner as part of his co-op experience. He had four rotations at Turner before becoming a full-time employee and later a supervisor.

“Many in our executive leadership at a corporate level and in Cincinnati are graduates of the co-op program,” says Bowersock. “They started with Turner through co-op. Turner is a believer of promoting from within.”

One of Matthews’ colleagues is Jalyn Stewart, a 2022 engineering graduate who also did her co-op rotations at Turner before joining the company full time.

“We have a lot of co-op students who get hired full time at Turner — it’s kind of the norm,” she says. “We really don’t see a lot of people come in without co-op or some previous experience.”

Stewart shares an office with Matthews — he works mainly on a Cincinnati hospital cardiac catheterization laboratory while she works on a hospital front entry project; both have lots of overlap.

“Co-ops are a great opportunity to figure out what you like and don’t like,” explains grad Stewart, who majored in civil engineering at UC. “Some people might move around to different companies or they might stay with the same one depending on what they are learning.

“Be a sponge,” Stewart advises, “because it is your opportunity to soak up as much knowledge as you can and figure out if this career is for you. Go open-minded, ready to learn and take in all the information that you can.”

At the end of each semester, Turner’s co-op students give a presentation to local company leadership to share their experiences.

“It also gives them [one-on-one time] with leadership so they can get to know the students,” Bowersock explains.

When student Matthews offered his first presentation to his local leadership team he acknowledged not being comfortable speaking publicly, but promised to give it his best shot.

“And he did an absolutely phenomenal job during that presentation,” says Bowersock. “I still remember a lot of our leaders coming up to me after that saying they were very impressed. We can see a lot of promise in this young man.”

Matthews is now troubleshooting on-site — spotting problems and offering solutions to his supervisors. During one recent afternoon, some electrical work for door operators needed to be done near the hospital’s lab area and it was Matthews who determined the work could be done with minimal time and without shutting down power or impacting patient care.

“One thing that I always ask my students is that you are critically thinking through a problem to a solution,” says Bowersock. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be the solution we go with, but I ask if you are presented with a problem, think about a potential solution. And that is something that Andrew does a phenomenal job with because he critically thinks things through.”

Turner’s Bowersock says co-op Matthews is taking the lead in bringing the hospital lab project across the finish line.

“He is leading the charge as far as scheduling, trade coordination, quality control and a Punch List for other areas that lead to 100% completion,” he says.

Matthews says co-op offers a great chance to network along with earning some employment income for a student balancing school and other expenses.

“My parents love the idea of co-op because it puts you closer to having a full-time job,” he says. “They also love that I am making money and doing it as I learn within the company about construction management.”

Matthews says the real-world lessons of co-op and the foundational skills learned in the UC classroom are excellent complementary tools for students.

“You learn a bunch during your semester on co-op. You then come back to school, take what you have learned and put it to use in the classroom. What’s taught in class helps you build your knowledge and prepare for the next co-op.”

Photos: Andrew Higley, unless otherwise noted
Digital design: Kerry Overstake
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