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The following was submitted by Cummings Properties:
Twenty-one local students will return to school this fall with new practical skills and professional experience after a summer at Cummings Properties, including Winchester residents Jack Mackey and Ella Matule.
Each year, the Woburn-based firm provides young adults from high school to graduate school with paid, hands-on opportunities to learn about commercial real estate and its many related trades.
Guided by experienced, full-time Cummings employees, the students contribute valuable support in areas ranging from landscaping and general construction to client relations and architectural design.
“If you listen, you’ll learn a lot,” said Cam Shinnick, a Stoneham resident and incoming first-year at Saint Anselm College.
Shinnick is spending his summer in the open air, learning fundamental landscaping and masonry skills alongside four of his peers. He counts his key takeaways as an enduring work ethic and a broad exposure to construction work.
“Everyone just makes it a fun place to work,” he said. “And there’s always something different to learn — I’m now very aware of the specific challenges that come with working with concrete.”
Legal Department intern Alex Chaban has also found value in the breadth of assignments he has completed while supporting Cummings’ in-house attorneys.
“It’s been an all-encompassing experience,” said Chaban, an Andover native who will enter his final year at Suffolk University Law School this fall. “I’ve been able to dip my toe into aspects of leasing, revising motions, and even litigation.”
Chaban also noted the benefits of the organization’s unusual “one-stop-shop” model, in which leasing, design, construction, and property management are all handled in-house.
“You have face-to-face interaction between all the teams, and the whole company comes together for one objective,” said Chaban.
For many, a summer internship at Cummings becomes the first step in a long-term career. Harry Sawka interned with the firm while studying at Endicott College and now works full time as an associate account manager.
“Cummings Properties gives students a unique chance to explore a wide range of potential careers,” said Sawka, a Woburn resident. “By learning from in-house specialists across nearly every discipline, they gain the knowledge and skills to succeed in whichever path they pursue.”
For more than 50 years, Cummings has had a strong tradition of employing local area youths as summer workers at various properties throughout its 11 million-square-foot suburban portfolio. The firm’s in-house expertise includes architecture, engineering, and all the trades as well as sales, accounting, legal, and graphic design.
