News & Events Archive

Internship program gives college student opportunity to run painting business

BY RYAN SIEGLE/MISSOURIAN READER

Ryan Siegle is a student majoring in mechanical engineering. He is an intern with College Works Painting, a program that gives participants the opportunity to learn how to run their own painting businesses.

My name is Ryan Siegle. I am a second-year student over at the university working to get my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was born in Columbia and moved back here about seven years ago to finish out my grade school, going through Gentry, Jeff Junior and Rock Bridge.

Back in February I started a business management internship with College Works Painting, a nationwide exterior painting company with small-town business appeal. The internship provides a great opportunity for those with an interest in business management to get that experience. Each intern starts the program by going through a very strenuous, extensive interviewing process. If hired, the intern then completes about 50 hours of classroom-styled training and begins the actual program with door-to-door marketing to find people interested in getting a free estimate for any exterior painting work. Once the leads are obtained, estimates are set up, and for those that are wanting to get the work done, contracts are signed.

Once production begins, I will hire my painting crews, typically two crews with two painters each, and the houses begin being painted around mid-May when classes are finished. College Works Painting offers a huge service to these clients that decide to get their house painted. We offer prep work that most contractors do not, have material prices that literally no other contractor can beat and have a very specific process of getting the painting done so that each customer is completely satisfied at the end of the experience, which explains our 98 percent satisfaction rate and A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

This program is great for both responsible college students interested in business management experience as well as people of the community who are interested in getting any exterior painting done, for College Works' number one priority, after safety that is, is customer satisfaction. If interested in a free estimate, my number is 999-6642 and the office number is (888) 450-9675. We hope to see you out there!

Topekan learns about owning business

By Angela Deines
The Capital-Journal

Work hard. Play hard. Have fun.

That is the simple motto Gabriel O'Shea, 20, said he uses to approach work and life.

The 2009 Hayden High School graduate, who will be a junior majoring in business finance at Kansas State University this fall, has started his own painting business with the help of College Works Painting, a nationally recognized company.

O'Shea said he went through rigorous training earlier this spring on how to manage his own painting business when representatives of the California-based company came to the Manhattan campus to recruit student interns.

Being a young entrepreneur, O'Shea said the College Works Painting business is a good one with which to start.

"The painting business works good for us college students because we're not in school during the summers," O'Shea said. "But I want to own my own business some day. I always want to keep expanding."

O'Shea said with a crew of four college students, they have painted 10 houses in Topeka since May. He said he is planning on hiring four more students in the next few days in order to finish the 25 additional houses he has orders for in the next several weeks.

On a recent afternoon with the temperature hovering around 100, O'Shea was supervising brothers Riley and Casey Bohannon, also Hayden graduates, as they worked on a house in the Potwin neighborhood. Both said although the working conditions were hot, they were enjoying their summer jobs.

"I think it's nice," said Riley Bohannon, 18. "It's good pay."

"It's hard work, but it's good," added Casey Bohannon. "You have to work hard, but it's worth it."

O'Shea said he knows the business world isn’t always fun, something he said his father has taught him.

"He says every day is a new challenge," he said. "If a painter gets sick, I have to go paint. You just have to go with it."

For more information about College Works Painting, go to www.collegeworks.com.

SLU student reaps benefits of business

BY JASMINE OSBY

Like most college students, Ben Albers needed a job that would support him during the school year and through the summer.

Albers never expected that he would end up managing a network of employees ranging from college students to family men.

At age 19, the St. Louis University student is the district manager of a nationwide entrepreneurial internship program for undergraduate students that allows them to create and manage their own businesses.

College Works Painting is an internship program started in California by four college students who had worked as interns for Student Works Painting in Canada.

After Student Works dissolved in 1993, the students took what they had learned and created College Works Painting, giving college students in the U.S. the opportunity to gain knowledge on how to run a business.

College Works has about 2,000 interns covering 23 states.

Last summer, Albers became one of College Works' newest employees.

By the time he went back to school, he had painted 25 houses, managed six painters, trained six marketers and made $80,000 all before entering his junior year of college.

But it wasn't easy.

For the first three months, Albers was on his own as he searched for professional house painters on Craigslist and sought out marketing interns from local colleges and universities.

"I did well in the very beginning, but then I struggled a lot because I wasn't listening to the people trying to help me and I was trying to do everything on my own," he said.

But Albers soon realized that he needed help and, after hiring a few friends, he started going door to door in his neighborhood looking for clients.

Because the business hadn't made any money yet, Albers paid the workers from money he made in a previous job at a car wash. As customers started booking College Works to paint their homes, the business began to grow and the summer got busy.

Soon he had a team of painters whose ages ranged from 20 to 50. At first, Albers worried about the age disparity.

"When I first did this last summer, I was pretty shocked when they listened to me," he said. "But then I realized that it was all about how I carried myself and that it doesn't matter how old you are, it matters what you do."

This summer Albers and College Works Painting are off to a fast start. Sixty-three houses are already scheduled to be painted.

Production manager Greg Smith, who was hired by Albers this summer, said working with College Works has been great because everyone involved is extremely motivated. Smith also said that although the economy is rough, business is still flourishing.

"With the way the economy is, people aren't buying new homes, they're fixing up the homes they have," he said. "So it's a great time because it increases the value of their homes and gives it good curb appeal."

Chuck Michel, 55, had his bluish gray Webster Groves home painted by Albers and his team last June after Albers knocked on his door while looking for clients.

"They were diligent and did a great job," Michel said. "You could tell that Ben had put together a crew who really knew what they were doing."

Michel said that Albers' young age never crossed his mind but that he applauds any young person willing to venture out into entrepreneurship.

"Any time one can go out of their way to find opportunities, they're ahead of the curve, and I applaud them for going out there and chasing the dream," he said. "Especially in this economy, because people aren't just calling around handing out jobs."

During the school year, Albers juggles being a student and being a boss even when the painters stop painting. In the fall he recruits and teaches new interns how to market and sell the business — all while attending class, completing assignments and cramming for exams.

Albers said it has been tough managing both school and the business and that, although he is equipped with all the tools needed to run a successful business, he thinks school is still very important.

"If I would've known already what field of business I wanted to go into, I probably would've dropped out of school and started doing it," he said. "But I think there's a lot more to learn in terms of business and marketing strategies that school can provide."

Every student should take a class on how to run a business, even if they aren't business majors, said Jennifer Ehlen, 34, director of St. Louis University's Center for Entrepreneurship.

"In today's economy and subsequent job market, employers are looking for students who can come into their place of employment and look at a job from an entrepreneurial perspective," she said.

Ehlen said what Albers is doing transcends house painting because he is learning two of the most important concepts of running a business: managing a workforce and understanding cash flow.

"There's no greater way to understand concepts like that than if you're having to be the CEO of your own business, even if it is a painting business," Ehlen said.

Although running a business is not easy, Albers said that college students are not just limited to the typical summer job anymore and that there are lots of other opportunities for them.

"The best way to start your own business is just to do it," he said. "There'll be a lot of failures and no's, but the trick is to see through those no's and get to the goal, which is running a successful business or company."

Earn while you learn: 10 best part-time jobs for college students

From DailyFinance With classes starting soon, students start to scout out extra cash for books and food. But how to find the ideal part-time job to help finance your tuition and fun funds? If flipping burgers won't cut it for you, consider one of the following 10 best part-time jobs for students, as named by our unscientific Money College ranking.

9. Home painting. Manage a paint team with College Works Painting. Control your own branch of painters and clients. This means that you get paid a percentage of each job's profit rather than an hourly wage. According to the company's site, a branch manager can make anywhere between $5,000 to $36,000 per year depending on the team's performance. The company even awards bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 to some above-average workers.

See the entire list of 10 best part-time jobs for college students

Missouri kicks off the spring season

The Missouri division just finished their first training with an amazing group ofinterns. Taylor Duncan, Vice President from Illinois, helped launch their first training last weekend in Kansas City, MO and 52 interns attended. Missouri and Kansas look forward to a great spring and are excited to start offering estimates throughout Missouri & Kansas.