CRH 2024 Midsouth Region Intern Presentations
It was another productive summer for APAC-Mississippi/Tennessee interns. We marked the end of our 2nd annual regional internship program at the CRH Midsouth Region Intern Presentations at the Sheraton Flowood The Refuge Hotel & Conference Center. The event — attended by APAC-Mississippi/Tennessee interns Omar Chowdhury, Aly Sebren, Grayson Vaughan and Payton Spears, along with one APAC-Alabama intern and three Barriere interns — recognized the work completed during the internship programs. The presentations highlighted the objectives, results and impact of each intern’s summer project.
APAC-Mississippi/Tennessee summer internships are designed to provide hands-on experiences to help participants explore their desired career fields. Over the summer, each intern worked with an APAC mentor to develop a project that would provide real-world learning opportunities while also contributing ideas for improving our company’s work processes.
The August 6th event began with an informative safety minute by Barriere intern Jean Huckaby, followed by words of welcome from CRH Regional President of the Midsouth Region, Dwayne Boyd, who introduced the leadership panel. Next, Barriere President Jason Latiolais gave an overview of CRH and its Purpose.
Before the intern presentations, company leaders participated in a panel discussion about the road from “Internship to Industry.” The panel included spokespersons from Barriere — VP of Asphalt Operations Justin White, Asphalt Plants and Materials Group Manager Joe Kennedy and Baton Rouge Asphalt Group Manager Jeff Roming — along with APAC-Mississippi/Tennessee Vice President of Operations Bobby Bogue, General Manager – East Matt Smith and Lead Project Manager – East Carl Pittman.
The presentations provided insight into each intern’s experience and their ideas on how to make the companies more efficient. In the first presentation, Payton Spears discussed his summer project, comparing his 2023 and 2024 internships. Aly Sebren and Grayson Vaughan focused on construction-related content. Aly researched the impact of silt and clay in asphalt and concrete mixtures, and Grayson presented the effect of stockpile yard drainage on moisture content.
In his presentation, Omar Chowdhury shared his input on how the company can improve its efficiency. His project focused on estimating stripping costs using TALPAC 3D simulation to evaluate economic scenarios.
Closing out the program, guest speaker Ryan Lindsey, Executive Vice President of Government Relations for CRH Americas, talked about the importance of building a brand, the characteristics of a good brand and what goes into creating and maintaining that. He also explained his “Get To vs. Got To” philosophy, emphasizing the impact mindset can have on whether you see your work as a ‘get to do something fun’ job or a ‘you have to do something’ job.
Congratulations to our 2024 interns on completing the summer program! We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
