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Endowment Scholar Once Built Tree Forts, Now Army Housing
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Dustin Kinney | Dustin Kinney wanted to be a home builder almost since the time he was “swinging a hammer and building tree forts in the middle of the woods” as a youngster in Pennsylvania.
Not long after that, he was helping his father remodel homes.
Today, Kinney is an assistant superintendent with the Clark Building Group helping to build military housing at Fort Belvoir outside Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia.
On his path from building tree forts to Fort Belvoir, Kinney earned a degree in civil engineering at Penn State, was president of the university’s NAHB Student Chapter and, with a scholarship from the National Housing Endowment so he could attend the 2007 International Builders Show in Orlando, participated in the NAHB Student Chapter Residential Construction Management Competition.
For the competition, Kinney and his NAHB Student Chapter teammates completed a construction management proposal that included site utilization, estimating, sequencing and scheduling.
“It was an all-encompassing endeavor that opened my eyes to what was involved in creating a full-blown residential development project,” Kinney said. “It really helped me solidify my decision to pursue residential construction.”
While at Penn State, Kinney also participated in a summer internship program with the Clark Building Group and was impressed with the “culture, people and opportunities that came to the table.”
The company was impressed with Kinney as well, because after graduating in May, he was hired as a field engineer and then promoted to assistant superintendent.
Kinney encourages any students or recent graduates who are considering careers in residential construction to pursue that path now, rather than wait.
“Don’t dwell heavily on what experts say about the home building market right now,” Kinney said. “Good companies are always looking to bring good, hard-working, knowledgeable people onto their teams.”
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something,” he added. “Building homes has been my dream since I was very young, and no matter how many new homes are going up every month, I continue to enjoy my job because it teaches more than just home building skills ― it provides leadership opportunities, everyday life skills, job security, the ability to grow in the company and numerous networking possibilities.”
The IBS scholarship, one of 12 scholarship programs administered by the endowment, played a pivotal role in helping Kinney cement his career goals once he graduated. Each year, the endowment awards more than $350,000 in scholarships to students like Kinney.
 “All of our scholarships help support our mission,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “The endowment is working to increase the number of professionals entering residential construction and our scholarships, along with other programs that we sponsor, are leading the effort to reward and encourage the best and brightest to choose this field.”
Endowment scholarships for students to attend the 2009 International Builders’ Show are available online, as are general tuition scholarships.
To apply, or for more information, visit www.nationalhousingendowment.com.
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