Crown Point man works smarter by going to Purdue

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - In 2008, when the economy tanked, Mark Lasik, of Crown Point, said it looked like many jobs were going offshore.

"So many jobs were going to the Philippines and other countries," he said.

"I was at Verizon and they offered me another job, but what was to stop me from being in the same position a few years later? I took the severance money and went back to college."

Lasik, 51, of Crown Point, is one of dozens of people who learned how to work smarter by going back to school and earning a more advanced degree to improve his job prospects.

Lasik graduated in 1983 from Crown Point High School. Two years later, he earned an associate degree in construction technology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.

He said he worked for a variety of construction companies, but none of those jobs lasted long. Lasik decided to change his career and focus, and found a job at Verizon Conferencing.

"I was the scheduling manager there for 13 years," he said.

In August 2007, Lasik enrolled at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, now known as Purdue University Northwest, focusing on enhancing his construction degree.

"Many of the people I used to work with still haven't recovered from the recession or are working part-time jobs or are in retail. I think I worked smarter by going back to school to gain a new skill set and make myself more marketable," Lasik said.

"I approached school like it was a job. Purdue Cal helped me to make myself more marketable. I dedicated myself to it," Lasik said.

He also worked part time at a company in Schererville, doing some estimating work and CAD (Computer-Aided Design) for a year and a half.

When Lasik graduated in 2012, his Purdue Calumet department head, Anthony Gregory, recommended Lasik to another Purdue Calumet construction management graduate who is a supervisor at Crown Corr. Lasik was interviewed, then hired.

Gregory said Lasik was an excellent student who added a lot to the courses he participated in due to his previous education and work experience.

"He prepared well for course assignments and projects, and was always professional in his dealings with faculty, staff, and other students. He was able to use his previous career experience along with the education he received in the Purdue Calumet CMET program to enhance his career opportunities," Gregory said.

Lasik got a job at Crown Corr in Gary as an estimator in February 2012, just a few months before he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in construction management and engineering technologies from Purdue University Calumet.

Headquartered in Gary, Crown Corr has other locations across the nation. It specializes in metal panel, custom metal roofing and glass and aluminum curtain wall building enclosure systems. The company has built a reputation for its work in the construction of professional sports stadiums.

"I forecast pricing for jobs," Lasik said.

"I look at blueprints or drawings. I take the information from the drawings and forecast the labor, equipment and material prices for the job. Everything we do is on a national scale -- high schools, stadiums, very high-profile jobs."

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Source: The (Munster) Times, http://bit.ly/28JHQvY

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com