Alumnus Builds Career In Construction Field

ALUMNUS BUILDS CARER IN CONSTRUCTION FIELD

IT IMPRESSED A LOT OF EMPLOYERS THAT I ALREADY KNEW HOW TO DO THAT RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE, AND THOSE SKILLS WERE VERY USEFUL IN MY CAREER.

Isaac Kramer is a carpenter/laborer at Peters Buildings Inc. in Toledo, working at construction sites all around the surrounding area to help create new structures.

“One of the things I love most about my job is that at the end of the day you can see what all you’ve done,” Kramer said. “Being able to literally see your progress and see something that you helped create is what makes this job special.”

Upon graduating from high school, Kramer said his goal was to find a hands-on job that did not include factory work. With family members who worked in both electrical and welding careers, Kramer said it was not difficult to make the leap to try his hand at construction.

“Lake Land was close by, and I knew the campus,” Kramer said. “Because of the small class sizes, I was able to get to know people and make a lot of connections.”

Not only was Kramer impressed by the class sizes, he said many of his future employers were impressed with the knowledge and experience Kramer had acquired through his time at Lake Land.

“Neal focused a lot on being able to read, draw and understand plans,” Kramer said, referring to Building Construction Technology Instructor/ Coordinator Neal Haarman.

“It impressed a lot of employers that I already knew how to do that right out of college, and those skills were very useful in my career."

Kramer went on to share how Haarman helped to further his career, saying Haarman “saw the potential in us and fought for us.”

“Neal even helped get us internships at Morton Buildings,” Kramer said. “He always believed in us and did his best to get us off on the right foot.”

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Joe Hoenes, HVAC Instructor

Joe Hoenes taught heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC+R) courses for more than 15 years through Lake Land College at the Danville Correctional Center. Now, he has come out of retirement to share this knowledge with students on the main campus as well.

“When you see someone ‘get it’ there’s really no words to describe that feeling,” Hoenes said. “It makes me feel really good. I really enjoy passing that information on to someone who can use it to make a difference in their own life and others’ lives.”

Hoenes said he was inspired to make the leap from HVAC+R worker to HVAC+R instructor by his own experience of getting into the field.

“It was 1982 and I couldn’t get a job,” Hoenes said of his experience before going into the HVAC+R field. “I came across a repair place that had more work to do than people to do it, and I thought that looked like a great field to go into."

He then went to the local library and found a school that taught the skills he would need to succeed in many areas of work, such as appliance repair, electrical work, plumbing, engineering and many other areas.

“I may not have always had the job I wanted, but I always had work,” Hoenes said. “I try to teach my students that more than anything else, integrity in their work is what will help them do well and advance in their careers.”

At Lake Land, Hoenes said the HVAC+R program has many different aspects available to assist in students’ education, including industry-standard equipment and instructors with experience in the field to share their situational experiences.

“At Lake Land, we want our students to succeed, simple as that,” Hoenes said. “It’s easy to see that out of everyone here.”

ARCHITECTURAL & CONSTRUCTION AREA OF STUDY

Building Construction Technology

CET/Advanced Technical Studies

Civil Engineering Technology

Computer Aided Design

Geospatial Technology

HVAC+R

Residential Wiring

Surveying with GIS

Architectural & Construction Exploratory Area of Study

LEARN MORE

For more information or to get started in an Architectural & Construction Area of Study visit lakelandcollege.edu.