Technical Builders, DPR Construction, has welcomed 38 participants to its Build Up High School Intern Programme, the largest cohort since it began in 2017 and a 42% increase in participation compared to 2023.
The programme gives eligible high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to spend their summers working side by side with skilled project teams on major construction projects. Participants get the same experience as college-aged interns, learning about managing multi-million-dollar projects, the technology powering construction planning, schedule and design while also learning about the variety of roles and career paths in construction. Build Up is an eight-week programme that pays participants weekly at hourly rates. Out of 154 participants in the programme to date, five have been hired as full time DPR employees and 25% have continued with the company as college interns.
"In my first Build Up internship, I worked with project engineers, superintendents, safety managers and more on a Seattle project," said Selome Muruts, a returning Seattle-based DPR Build Up intern. "I initiated conversations with these people, not knowing what to expect, but I received willing mentorship. It's clear DPR's values run deep, and I wanted to return to experience that dynamic on the office-side. This summer, I am back for my second internship working with Preconstruction and Virtual Design and Construction teams. I applied for the DPR internship out of curiosity for the industry, but I came back because of my admiration for the company."
"Build Up is designed as a programme to help broaden possibilities for talented high schoolers who are often going to be the first in their families to go to college," said Diane Shelton, DPR's community initiatives leader. "Participant cohorts are also more diverse than our industry as a whole, which we hope will contribute to a shift as we welcome a new generation into AEC. They can help the construction workforce of the future look more like the communities we serve."
Build Up interns are in every DPR location in the United States. The success of the programme is featured in DPR's first Global Social Responsibility (GSR) annual report, highlighting the company's philanthropy and progress toward sustainability and diversity goals, including efforts to increase supplier diversity.
