Grow Forward: Inside Shive-Hattery’s 2026 Emerging Professionals Swarm

This summer, interns from across the country traveled to Des Moines for our second annual Emerging Professionals Swarm, two days at the Des Moines Botanical Center under a banner that fit the venue: Grow Forward.

The Swarm is in its second year, but for a good share of the room it was a first. Returning interns knew what was coming. First-summer interns walked in with no idea. The programming was built for both, with an emphasis on personalization, connection, and real-world preparation, designed to accelerate relationships across offices and give every intern room to shape their own professional story.

A Room Built for Connection

President Jen Bennett welcomes interns to the Des Moines Botanical Center on the first morning of the Swarm.

Interns arrived Thursday morning to a name badge and an introduction from their own Business Unit Director. Seating was assigned on purpose, spread so nobody sat with the office they’d spent the summer in, and by the time President Jen Bennett opened the event, most people had already met someone new.

“Technical skills are important, but I wanted them to see the value of relationships, collaboration, staying open to unexpected opportunities, and a commitment pursue the opportunities ahead of them create a career they love (hopefully for most of them, here, at Shive-Hattery!),” said Bennett. “What surprised me most was how quickly they connected with one another. In two days together, they had already begun building the kind of network that can support them throughout their careers.”

Bennett told the group about her own start as an intern, then spent the next two days in the room. She wasn’t the only one.

Sessions That Made a Mark

Zach Holmes of Bankers Trust leads a hands-on session on budgeting, credit, investing, and retirement.

The Personal Finance session went straight at something school reliably skips. Zach Holmes, VP at Bankers Trust, walked the group through budgeting, credit, investing and retirement. The piece that landed hardest, judging by what interns wrote afterward, was the math on starting early.

After lunch, our Creative Strategist Group broke the interns out by discipline and handed them the thing that actually pays for the work: an RFP. Teams built a response, wrote the cover letter, and pitched it. Because the groups were mixed across offices, a writing exercise quietly became a coordination problem, which is a fair approximation of the real thing.

“It is not like school where they just hand you a brief. You have to go search for projects in the real world.” — Morgan Kleve, Architecture | Iowa City, IA

The afternoon closed with Gabe Lett, author of The AEC Professionals Guidebook, on the lessons that get you ahead in an industry where technical skill is only the entry fee.

“Young professionals at the beginning of their career have the opportunity to build a strong foundation for their future, both in the habits they build and in real dollars they can save at a young age.  A bit of education and financial literacy can go a long way with professionals who are already very smart.  Providing an opportunity for these emerging professionals to set themselves up for a solid financial future is a rewarding part of the Swarm – even if not directly related to Architecture and Engineering.” — Nate Hardisty, Business Unit Director | Des Moines, IA

Boards, Courts, and Real Conversations

Interns assemble skateboards with Skate DSM, donated through the Get On Board Project.

Friday morning was hands-on. Working with Skate DSM, teams designed and built skateboards donated through the Get On Board Project, which pairs boards with helmets for local youth and introduces them to Lauridsen Skatepark. It was the most-mentioned moment in the post-event survey, named by more interns than anything else across the two days.

“From helping put together skateboards, we were going to be making an impact on kids’ lives — helping kids be able to skate without having to pay for a skateboard.” — Gavin Wiseman, Civil Engineering | Des Moines, IA

The night before, shuttles ran to Smash Park in West Des Moines for dinner and games, where the badges came off and the pickleball courts did what a programmed agenda can only partly do.

“It was a great way to see our coworkers in a more unprofessional setting. Sometimes people are scared to be themselves at work, and it is so much easier to connect when they act like themselves.” — Madeline Stoltz, Civil Engineering | Madison, WI

The Swarm closed with its least produced ninety minutes: live roundtables run by the planning committee. Small groups, no slides, honest prompts about what the summer had actually been like.

“A moment to be truthful and vulnerable about our internship was really helpful. I really enjoyed hearing others’ perspectives too.” — Grant Shell, Technology | Des Moines, IA

Des Moines was part of the programming, too — a complimentary drink at Daisy Chain Coffee, the East Village a few steps from the hotel, and an Iowa-made Moglea notebook and RAYGUN shirt to take home.

What’s Next?

The buzz hasn’t died down. Interns are already asking about coming back as ambassadors, and the feedback they gave us is shaping next year’s agenda: an earlier date in the summer, more court time at Smash Park, and a session on licensure paths to sit alongside personal finance.

For Talent Partner Connor Moellenbeck, who has helped build the Swarm since the inaugural event in 2025, the aim has never been complicated. “From the content to the connection, each piece of the experience is intentionally curated to have our interns be able to answer the big question of ‘Can I see myself at Shive-Hattery for the long haul?’ with an emphatic ‘Yes!’ The most rewarding part is watching the group come in as colleagues, and leave as friends.”