Every construction career begins with someone willing to explain the basics: how a bid comes together, why even the smallest of details matter, and what the superintendent means when they say the schedule is tight. We’ve all had those mentors, and every summer we try to be one.
Each year, Frank Schipper Construction welcomes an intern into our Santa Barbara office and onto our jobsites for a season of real work, real deadlines, and the occasional lesson that only a change order can teach. Our goal is simple: help emerging professionals connect what they learn in the classroom to what it really takes to bring a project out of the ground.
Meet Our 2026 Intern, Chloe!
Chloe Johansson Hoffman, an Architectural Engineering student at Stanford, joined us this summer as a construction management intern, where she got to see the business from two very different vantage points.
In estimating, she learned how a project takes shape long before anyone breaks ground – reading plans, scoping the work, chasing down pricing, and understanding why a number on a bid form must be defensible down to the line item. Meanwhile, in project management, she saw what happens after that number transforms into a contract, from submittals and RFIs to schedules, coordination, and the daily problem-solving that keeps a job on track.
We give our interns exposure to the various roles in our work by design. Estimating teaches them how to determine what a project should cost, while project management shows them what it takes to bring our plans to life. Understanding both separates a good construction professional from a great one, and we’d rather our interns learn it early with mentors nearby than later, on their own.
Chloe also spent ample time in the field with our superintendents and crews. Plans outline what a building will be, but a jobsite demonstrates how it actually comes together, one wall assembly at a time!
A Commitment That Extends Beyond Our Office
Mentorship at FSCC doesn’t stop at the end of an internship. In fact, it doesn’t stop at our own front door!
Our President, Erwin Villegas, serves on the board of the TRADART Foundation, a Santa Barbara nonprofit devoted to advancing craftsmanship in local schools. TRADART was built on a straightforward belief that vocational education deserves the same respect as academic education. Through programs like Tools for Schools, the Skills Passport curriculum, and its annual industrial arts showcase, the foundation supports woodshop and construction technology classes across the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Erwin was among the industry leaders who helped stand the organization up more than two decades ago, when vocational programs in local schools were being dismantled. That work matters to us for practical reasons as much as civic ones. Simply put, the industry needs people. If a student never gets the chance to try woodshop or design, they may never find out that building things is something they love.
Giving Back by Passing It On
Chloe is the latest in a line of students we’ve hosted over the years, including interns from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Washington State University, programs that send us consistently sharp, curious people.
Some of those students go on to build careers with us. Several members of our current team, in fact, started as young professionals in this region and never left, and that longevity is one reason our clients see steady hands on their projects. Construction, after all, is a skilled trade and career worth recommending. It offers good work, good pay, and the rare satisfaction of driving past something you helped build and knowing exactly what’s inside the walls.
Sharing what we know is how we keep that door open. Whether it’s a summer intern learning to read a bid, a high school student in a woodshop class discovering they’re good with their hands, or a young project manager getting their first real assignment, mentorship helps the next generation find its footing. We’re glad to be a part of it.
Interested in an internship or career at Frank Schipper Construction? We’d love to hear from you at info@schipperconstruction.com.