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University of Illinois senior and College Works intern starts catering company

Jeremy Mandell and Daniel Krause aren't crazy; they're Cracked.

The two University of Illinois seniors plan to start operating a food truck on the University of Illinois campus in August.

They'll serve breakfast sandwiches to students from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, likely parking their truck on Mathews Avenue near University High School and the Siebel Center for Computer Science.

A few eggs may need to be broken to make those sandwiches — thus the name of the business: Cracked.

This won't be Mandell's first brush with business. He had his own racquet restringing business and operated a College Works Painting branch in Winnetka. Krause, meanwhile, has worked in the restaurant and food service business more than seven years.

"I always knew I didn't want to work for anyone," Mandell said. "Now I'll be working for everyone."

Vignocchi excels as internship nears its end

Rebecca Gomolka
Correspondent

As summer is nearing its end, Katie Vignocchi is beginning to wrap up her internship with College Works Painting.

Although she'll be heading back to the University of Illinois in a few weeks, where she is double majoring in Urban and Regional Planning and Sociology, this is not the end of her work with College Works Painting.

Vignocchi, a 2009 alum of Coal City High School, began interning with College Works at the beginning of the summer after being recruited at college by past interns of the company. College Works recruited over 7,000 students, but only 200 of those individuals were chosen to work in the Great Lakes Division.

"My current boss interviewed over 500 students," Vignocchi said, "but he only chose 20 for his group." The number of interns is even smaller now, having only nine people under his supervision.

"Some students were fired for not being able to do the job that well, but the interns that I work with now are the most competitive group of people I've ever been around."

It took Vignocchi four different interviews to land the College Works internship, but the process certainly paid off. She is one of three girls in her division among hundreds of men. If that isn't impressive enough, she is one of the top girls for the house painting company. She now oversees interns and gives free estimates to potential customers.

"In the beginning of the summer, I was working 80 hours a week. It's calmed down since then because I now focus more on the production and completion of the houses, getting more into the sales side of the business," she said

Thus far Vignocchi's team has painted the exteriors of 19 different houses, and although she's heading back to the University of Illinois in a matter of weeks, she hopes to bump that number up to 25.

The internship has been an incredible learning experience for Vignocchi. Her communication and time management skills have improved immensely, but Vignocchi finds the most important lesson to be priorities.

"I realized having this job and putting it first was so important. I'm doing what I need to do now to get to where I want to be later in life."

Her hard work with the company has already gotten her a spot with College Works for 2012. "I am going to try and expand the work for the rest of the summer, hoping to have even a few jobs in Champaign," Vignocchi said. "But most of the work is in the summer. I've been asked to remain with the company and move forward."

Vignocchi believes this to be the most life changing experience she has ever had. "I've grown so much as a person. This internship showed me my true potential."

Vignocchi adds that a College Works Painting internship is a great one to be a part of because it "gives students the opportunity to put themselves above the curve. It's hands-on experience rather than just an academic resume builder."

Because of the great work Vignocchi has done, she now has multiple reference letters to help her in her future endeavors. "I will be able to transfer the skills I've learned with College Works for any job I may have in the future."

Vignocchi's ultimate goal is to be in ownership of a large scale company within the next five to 10 years. Whatever career path she chooses, this bright, young girl will excel because of this life-changing summer with College Works Painting.

Students painting a career path this summer

by Tony A. Solano
tsolano@pioneerlocal.com

University of Illinois students Steven Farag and Andrew Cardona are operating a house painting business in the Barrington area this summer, but it’s far from a typical summer job.

The two students are branch managers for College Works Painting, a company that provides hands-on leadership and internship experiences for college students by challenging them to run their own painting business. The two were interviewed and hired by College Works and tasked with assembling a crew of painters, marketing their services, consulting with potential clients, purchasing supplies, payroll, scheduling jobs and dividing up tasks among their crews.

“We’re painting houses and it’s fun, but at the end of the day we’re getting management experience and the experience of being the CEO of a company,” Farag said.

To the average person, Cardona and Farag look like typical college students, casually sporting University of Illinois T-shirts and shorts. But when asked about their schedules or to retrieve a phone number or an email, they immediately consult their Blackberries, much like many business professional would.

Farag is a Barrington High School graduate who is going into his sophomore year at University of Illinois. Cardona, of Arlington Heights, is spending his second summer working for College Works. In 2010 he managed a painting crew in Northbrook that had 30 jobs and earned $65,000.

“(Representatives of College Works) are mentoring us extremely closely, but they’re giving us the freedom to run our own business,” Farag said.

College Works services include exterior painting, including window trims, siding, fences, decks and porches, as well as garage interior painting. Cardona and Farag cover South Barrington, Inverness, Barrington, North Barrington, Tower Lakes, Kildeer and Deer Park.

“It’s all centered around college students having this big business, but a small business at the same time,” Farag said.

The two students drove back home from University of Illinois nearly every weekend this spring to prepare for what they hope will be a busy and lucrative summer. They each assembled marketing teams and executed several marketing strategies to get the word out, including creating fliers, making door-to-door visits and advertising on Craigslist.

“Relationships are everything,” Cardona said. “You build relationships at the door. You show them who you are, what you’re doing there and let them know you’re going to do a good job.”

Cardona said many jobs come from referrals. He added that having the College Works name instead of creating their own painting company connotes that it is an established business that guarantees high quality work.

For Cardona, an advertising and communications major going into his senior year at Illinois, the process of building rapport with clients and being charged with advertising and managing crew members and finances has been extremely valuable.

“I think the coolest part is being able to do interviews and hire people,” he said.

Cardona expects to have between four and six painters in his crew this summer. He interviewed the candidates himself and said the key is to have a mix of painters with professional experience and college students who are looking for a summer job. He said this way the professional painters can provide guidance to the more inexperienced crew members.

“When we mesh them both together we get a little bit of fire from the college student who wants to make some money as well as the experience of professionals who do this for a living,” Farag said.

Farag is an engineering major at Illinois. He said the College Works experience has sharpened his leadership skills and he believes it will give him an edge once he graduates.

Cardona said the profit gleaned from the summer endeavor depends on how much effort the branch managers put into it and their management of time and finances. He said it is typically about 22 percent of the total amount of money earned for the summer.

To set up an appointment for a free estimate, call Farag at (847) 387-0518 or Cardona at (847) 894-4293.

Summer painting business opens

Freeport, Ill. —

Coty Salazar is using the summer to manage a painting business through College Works Painting student internships.

Salazar will be a sophomore in the fall at University of Illinois in Champaign majoring in business administration. He heard about College Works after the company gave a presentation in during one of his classes. After an application and interview process, Salazar was set to begin planning.

“It will be something nice to put on my resume – running my own business my freshman year not a lot of kids are doing that,” Salazar said. “It’s a lot of hours putting in the work. I do all the marketing, scheduling and estimates."

Currently, he is conducting interviews and plans to hire four to eight people. Salazar said he is licensed, bonded and insured through the College Works program. He is able to do exterior work, which includes fences and staining decks and will use Sherwin-Williams paint products.

Next week, he plans to start taking free estimates and begin production. His goal is to book 17 to 25 clients this summer. He will take clients from Freeport and the surrounding area up to Rockford. Salazar has painted houses before including two houses he painted for training.

“I’m starting to fill up not quite that far yet,” he said. “I think this has taught me more in the few months that I’ve been doing it than all of my school year,” he said.

For more information, or to schedule an estimate call (815) 990-0609.

Earn while you learn: 10 best part-time jobs for college students

From DailyFinance With classes starting soon, students start to scout out extra cash for books and food. But how to find the ideal part-time job to help finance your tuition and fun funds? If flipping burgers won't cut it for you, consider one of the following 10 best part-time jobs for students, as named by our unscientific Money College ranking.

9. Home painting. Manage a paint team with College Works Painting. Control your own branch of painters and clients. This means that you get paid a percentage of each job's profit rather than an hourly wage. According to the company's site, a branch manager can make anywhere between $5,000 to $36,000 per year depending on the team's performance. The company even awards bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 to some above-average workers.

See the entire list of 10 best part-time jobs for college students