In a matter of weeks, Owen Vincelli will be a Brandon Valley High School alumnus and the latest new hire at Journey Group Cos.
“I have a week off for graduation, and Monday after graduation I start,” said Vincelli, who worked another job in the construction field while still in high school.
Come August, he will begin classes at Lake Area Technical College in Watertown as he works toward a degree in building trades technology, a path that will set him up for construction management.
But he won’t leave his role at Journey behind. The company is Vincelli’s sponsor in the Build Dakota program, a full-ride scholarship that will keep him working at Journey through school and for at least three years after that.
“I got connected with Journey through my internship class,” he explained. “I knew I wanted to go somewhere in construction because I’ve always liked to build things. I just didn’t know if it would be a two-year or four-year program. I interviewed with them late last year, and they ended up offering me the Build Dakota Scholarship as my sponsor.”
He’ll start this summer as a general laborer. “I really like them as a company already,” Vincelli said. “I’ve heard good things from everyone I’ve told (about my plans) that Journey is such a good company.”
At Brandon Valley High School, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Career Connections program coordinates weekly programming in Matt Christensen’s English class.
“When you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s a challenge to find your strengths, and we want to help them find where their loves meet their interest and what the world needs,” Christensen said. “We’ve taken tours to places like Southeast Tech, public safety departments and water treatment facilities, and the exposure is priceless. It’s really expanding the classroom as best we can.”
It’s been a valuable relationship, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
“This year, we were in 14 classrooms such as this one, bringing in guest speakers to introduce students to different professions and connecting them with everything from employment tours to internships,” she said. “When you see success stories like Owen’s, you realize the difference that kind of intentional approach can make.”
For Vincelli, the program brought a lot of value.
“We had a lot of speakers, and it opened my eyes to all the opportunities everywhere,” he said. “We had POET come in and were able to look at their job list and all their plants. There’s so many opportunities you don’t even think of for construction management.”
At Brandon Valley, there’s an intentional effort to connect students pursuing tech education with Build Dakota Scholarships, principal Mark Schlekeway said.
“We have a number of students Career Connections has assisted in that process, along with the explosion of our internship program,” he said. “We’re trying to build a community of future leaders, and I really view this as bridging the gap to connect students with potential careers in the community where they live. That’s where Career Connections has done a nice job opening students’ eyes to what you can do here without moving to a bigger area.”
At Journey, the team provided a clear sense of a career path early on for Vincelli.
“For two summers, I’ll do internships, and after school, I’ll be here three years, and they explained how they step me up within project management, or there are other pathways I can look at within Journey Group if I’m interested in different areas of the company. I can work my way around and figure out what I’d like to do.”
At Journey Group, “there are organized career paths for new hires like Owen,” said Brandy Nielsen, workforce development director. “They do certain tasks to get to one level and complete additional tasks to get to the next, so there’s no question what you have to do to advance, and we’ll coach you where you need development to advance in your career path.”
Even in high school, students can job-shadow to get a better sense for the opportunities, she said. Journey offered three Build Dakota sponsorships this year and had two that started last year.
“It’s worked really well for us,” said Jared Gusso, who leads the SFC Civil Constructors division. “We’re trying to keep our in-state kids here, and having that ability to jump-start their career without a bunch of student loans is really a win-win.”
A student who aspires to be a superintendent will be coached early, he said. That includes being part of phone calls with subcontractors, included in weekly meetings and given tasks that involve calling vendors.
“They get to experience things first-hand while going to school, and it gives them an advantage when they come out of school,” Gusso said.
One former Build Dakota scholar now is the project manager on work SFC Civil Constructors is doing for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Gavins Point Dam, he said.
“He’s really doing awesome, and because of the approach we take while they’re still in school, they graduate and have a jump-start. They know what the expectations are, they know the people, and hopefully it gives them a little more confidence and the ability to really go.”
Journey’s approach is a model for others, Guzzetta said.
“This is how you tackle workforce needs: investing early and committing to development at every stage of the employee’s career,” she said. “We can help introduce young people to opportunities in our community, but it’s exemplary employers like this that set them up for success.”
To connect with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Career Connections program, email deniseg@siouxfalls.com.
