In September 2020, Char-Em ISD first met up with Jared Kortman and his Wentworth Builders’ supervisors and colleagues at the building site of a sprawling, beautiful home going up on the shores of Walloon Lake. Kortman had just graduated from Petoskey High School, where he took Construction Trades under now-retired teacher Larry Liebler, and was starting his career in construction.
At the time of that first interview, Wentworth owner Scott Kennard described Kortman as showing “tremendous potential, dedication and education. His skills right out of the gate gave us the confidence to hire him.”
Kortman has continued to let those skills develop and shine, and in recent months has earned additional responsibilities at Wentworth Builders, including leading building projects as a junior site supervisor.
“I started out of high school working as a craftsman out of the building trades program in Petoskey, and I was given the opportunity to lead a project on Burt Lake in 2023,” said Kortman, now 22 and going strong as a key Wentworth employee.
Leading a building project means managing the crew and other trades that come on site for specific parts of the project, ensuring everyone has what they need for the work to be done, managing materials’ lists, completing daily tasks, and still working as a craftsman as well.
“Basically it’s learning the whole development of a job start to finish,” said Kortman. “There is a lot that goes into it. I also feel like I have learned to be more of a people person in this process, in understanding how a true construction site is run.”
As his skills have developed, so has his enjoyment of working in the construction industry.
“I came from seeing a normal house to seeing them as a literal piece of art coming together,” Kortman said. “Every house is an art piece. Each project has some kind of special meaning to me, depending on what I did on the project.”
Nate Hacker, who has served as Kortman’s mentor, is Wentworth’s senior site supervisor, having been with the company for 15 years and currently leading on-site operations. He has been impressed with Kortman’s work as well.
“Jared’s work ethic is the biggest thing. He has serious drive to work and learn,” said Hacker.
Cameron Kennard, an assistant project manager at Wentworth, also shared praise for building trades programs in local high schools, coordinated by Char-Em ISD’s Career and Technical Education Department.
“Our local building trades classes are great programs, and Jared is a shining example of what a Petoskey High School Building Trades student is capable of doing,” said Kennard.