Six MSU construction management students brought home third place honors in the National Association of Home Builders student competition in Atlanta during the weekend.
The MSU group competed against 20 universities. Teams submitted professional management proposals for the development of a 96-unit townhouse community in Raleigh, N.C.
The students included construction management juniors Dominic Crespo, Steve Kerber, Michael Ross and Dan Zlydaszyk, and seniors Jimmy Isaac and Jon Nelson.
“It was an awesome experience,” Kerber said. “As a team we brought Michigan State’s construction management program back into dominance across the nation.”
The proposal included estimate costs, schedule for completion, marketing plan, budget, cash-flow analysis and company organizational structure. The groups created a book and presented their proposals to five construction industry professionals.
“We basically took it from a piece of land and a plan book and made it into a feasible community down in North Carolina,” Kerber said. “Our job was to make sure it was marketable and feasible for our investment corporation.”
MSU finished behind Brigham Young University in Utah and Arizona State University, who won first and second place.
“I learned more about residential construction in the past month and half than I did in the last two years,” Ross said. “The amount of effort and dedication and being able to put forth that amount of effort really helps you. You need to learn how to do that.”
Crespo, the president of the team, said the competition was helpful in building career goals.
“It pretty much gave me a little glimpse into the reality of what goes into a project like this,” he said. “Going through the whole entire process really opens your eyes that you could go into business (and) do this on your own.”
Crespo also said the competition reflects well on MSU’s construction management program.
“It really reflects on how far it has come and where it is going,” he said. “Anybody who knows the competition, knows they’ve got to deal with Michigan State.”
The team placed sixth in last year’s competition. This year’s finish was the best in MSU’s history.
“They definitely brought home one prestigious award for Michigan State,” said Douglas Cron, coordinator for the construction management program and team coach. “This is about as competitive as it gets as far as the management end of construction goes at the university level. These students have put in unbelievable hours since the beginning of the year.
“The judges year after year have said the presentations are more professional than what they see done in the business world.”
Matt Theut, director of Great Lakes Recruiting for Pulte Homes which sponsored the group, said students gained career knowledge.
“We thought it was great,” he said. “Out of all the competitors that were there, they put on a really good performance and they were really professional. Their information was very accurate, and we were very proud to be sponsors of that group.”
