Business Mentoring

Dennis Corporation regularly recruits individuals for the mentoring program at high schools, universities, career fairs and trade shows. Mentoring candidates are recruited from two specific core groups of disadvantaged and minority individuals. These groups include local high school students who may not be academically prepared or financially able to continue their higher education. The second group includes local residents, either employed or unemployed, seeking a career in an engineering related field. By implementing this dual program, a broad base of candidates can be reached.

Once an individual has decided to accept a formal mentoring position, the process of identifying the developmental assignments begins. Civil Engineering, especially the business of designing and constructing public infrastructure, is a diverse field. Two career tracks are prevalent among those who enter it; the office environment and the field environment. It is common for an entry level candidate to prefer one over the other. The targeted positions include:

SITE DESIGN TECHNICIANS	CAD TECHNICIANS	INSPECTORS
TESTING TECHNICIANS	ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS	ROADWAY DESIGN TECHNICIANS
HYDROLOGY DESIGN TECHNICIANS	STRUCTURAL TECHNICIANS

 

Dennis Corporation’s Mentoring Program will ensure that the developmental assignment will begin with this key decision being made first. Developmental assignments in the field will follow a construction services track while those in the office will follow a CAD technician or designer track.

 

Additional Mentoring Participation

Business Development Academy

Dennis Corporation also participates in the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Business Development Academy. The goal of this program is to provide business development assistance to South Carolina certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE). The programs offered by the academy include the Entrepreneurial Development Institute (EDI). Our staff worked closely with the EDI to develop marketing presentations and training to mentor DBE firms in South Carolina.

Entrepreneurial Development Institute Program (EDIP)

Dennis Corporation has also been involved with the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Entrepreneurial Development Institute Program(EDIP). EDIP is a unique and innovative training program designed to provide hands-on, practical training geared toward realistic situations. Site visits are incorporated in the training to build the skill level of business owners and key business topics are covered at an advanced level to provide specific, job relevant training.

Mentoring / Protege Program

Dennis Corporation also has participated in a mentoring/protégé program with the South Carolina Department of Transportation. This program, which Dennis Corporation helped to develop, assists Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms by providing management and technical assistance to increase the capacity and number of DBE firms in non-traditional highway design, construction and maintenance areas.

The goals of this program are to expand the amount of DBE’s which conduct business with SCDOT, increase competition in bidding on projects, improve skills such as negotiation, interpretation and execution of contracts and improve financial positions.

Job Shadowing Program

Continuing our commitment to mentoring students, Dennis Corporation has also participated in high school job shadowing programs in conjunction with a variety of school districts. This program allows high school students to shadow industry professionals and spend a day learning about the field of engineering and construction management.

While here, the students spend the day shadowing each division manager and learning about the different opportunities within the engineering and construction management industry. The students spend the day learning about civil infrastructure, construction management, construction services, forensic engineering, traffic engineering or transportation engineering.

Dennis Corporation welcomes the opportunity to share the advantages of the engineering and construction management industry with these students, while showing them a variety of career options for students hoping to pursue technical careers. These students appreciate the experience and look forward to pursuing careers in this field.

If you are interested in learning more about the Job Shadowing Program, please email your questions and contact information to info@denniscorporation.com.

The following testimonials illustrate the invaluable experience that Dennis Corporation’s Job Shadowing Program has given.

“It was a great opportunity to find out how a good civil engineering firm operates on a daily basis. The experience was very informative and fun. Now I know what is ahead in my future in this career.”
– Taylor Wade, Fairfield County High Schools

“This gave me an opportunity to see if this work environment is one in which I might be comfortable in the future.”
– Andrew Drake, Fairfield County High Schools

“Overall, I learned many things from this experience and I’d be lucky to come back and work there in the future. Dennis Corporation is a business based on honor, courtesy, value, and proficiency; I loved working there and hope to see it grow to bigger and better things in the future.”
– Garrett Hutter, Spring Valley High School