Nine students are fulfilling internships at Woda Cooper Companies, Inc. headquarters this summer, with two more interns working at the company’s affiliated architectural firm, PCI Design Group, Inc. We are pleased to introduce you to the 2021 Summer Interns listed by department:
Accounting (all are majoring in accounting)
- Paige Allen will be a senior this fall at Bethany College. She is from Washington, PA.
- Taylor Stinnett is also a senior at Bethany College. She is from Barberton, OH.
- Joey DiCesare is a senior at Ohio State University. He grew up in Dublin, OH, and if his name sounds familiar it is because his father is Joe DiCesare, Senior VP-Construction.
Development
- Imani Babatunde is from Dublin, OH, and will enter her senior year this fall at Ohio State University where she is majoring in finance/real estate. Imani recently helped facilitate the Proctor Place Groundbreaking event in Indianapolis.
- Greg Oliver III is a junior majoring in finance at Portland State University where he also plays football. Greg is from Las Vegas, NV.
- Helene Renninger of Grove City, OH, will be a senior at Grove City High School this fall where she runs cross country. She also enjoys biking.
Construction
- Christian Kelly is a senior majoring in finance at Ohio State where he also plays lacrosse. Christian is from Powell, OH.
- Justin Kahle from Westerville, OH, is a senior at Miami University. He’s majoring in economics.
Human Resources
- Leah Valdman will be a sophomore at Ohio State. She’s majoring in business and minoring in Chinese. Leah is serving as Woda Cooper’s employee newsletter editor this summer and assisting with employee recruiting, reviews, and the Light the Night event. She’s from Columbus.
Architecture/PCI Design Group
- Chase Ireland hails from Wellesley, MA, and is studying architecture at Ohio State. He will be a senior this fall.
- Steven Lister just finished his first year of graduate school. He’s studying architecture at Ohio State and is from Dublin, OH.
Summer get-togethers
Woda Cooper recently hosted a series of events to help the interns get to know one another and learn more about the company. On June 22, the group met with David Cooper, Jr. who gave remarks about his career path starting in tax law and the structure and growth of Woda Cooper Companies. He emphasized the value of each person’s effort as part of the greater teamwork to expand high quality affordable housing options in urban cities, suburban and medium-sized cities, and smaller, rural towns. This past week Jeff Woda met with a number of interns and shared highlights from his early career in accounting, background on Woda Cooper’s early days, ideas about entrepreneurialism, and the importance of building positive relationships in business.
“I learned so much about the company’s history and gained a better understanding of how everything functions together,” said intern Leah Valdman.
Thanks to HR’s Paige Woda, who serves as the company’s intern ambassador, for organizing these events and also a fun outing to Top Golf last weekend. These are all great endeavors to engage the interns in employee life at Woda Cooper and PCI.
At Top Golf: From left, back: Imani Babatunde, Leah Valdman, Joey DiCesare, Justin Kahle, Greg Oliver.
Front row: Paige Allen, Taylor Stinnett, and Christian Kelly.
Taking a swing below, from left: Joey DiCesare, Christian Kelly, and Taylor Stinnett.
