Haskell Project Superintendent Nick Pontore was a Navy brat who was born in Italy and lived in Massachusetts before his father was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, when Nick was in the second grade. It’s been home ever since.

While he was a student at Orange Park High School, Pontore learned about Haskell from his shop teacher. Orange Park is part of Clay County’s highly respected CTE Program, which teams more than 120 teachers with representatives from business, industry and trade associations to offer 40-plus courses that provide the academic and technical skills students need to enter the workforce or higher education.

After graduating, Pontore tried college for a couple of years but wanted something more hands-on. He enrolled as a Haskell apprentice in the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s apprenticeship program. The four-year program includes 2,000 hours of on-the-job training in the classroom and the field each year.

“When I was an apprentice, Danny Denapoli knew everything about everything when it came to construction,” Pontore said. “He showed me how to build stuff and do things.”

Superintendent Rick Craven worked with Pontore on his first project as an apprentice, a seven-story garage for the courthouse in Downtown Jacksonville.

“He was very energetic, a go-getter eager to prove himself,” Craven said. “Nick’s worked with me on other projects. I’ve seen him come up through the ranks. He’s very knowledgeable.”

The NEFBA Apprenticeships dovetail perfectly with Haskell’s Permanent Craft Employee (PCE) program, established in the mid-1970s when the company extended full-time employment and benefits to skilled tradespeople. The program provides stability to these professionals while elevating project standards. Today, Haskell has a workforce of more than 100 PCEs, who are masters in their trades and play a foundational role in the safety, quality and efficiency of the projects on which they work.

Pontore became a journeyman carpenter in 2006. In his two-plus decades with Haskell, Pontore has worked on projects in healthcare, manufacturing, food processing, residential, office and federal sectors.

“I don’t want to be in the office all the time. I like being in the field,” he said. “I’m usually on the job for about a year. Then, you go to the next project. It’s like starting a new job.”

The projects he’s worked on include residence halls at the University of North Florida, the Winston Family YMCA, a rocket plant at Blue Origin, several hospitals, a charter school and projects for the Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

Pontore has worked his way up the leadership ladder. In his first job as a Project Superintendent, he oversees remodeling an H-E-B plant in Houston that produces milk, teas and lemonades.

“It’s a lot different being the project superintendent. It all falls on me. But I like it,” Pontore said.

In his off time, Pontore spends time with his wife, son and daughter at their home in Oakleaf in Clay County. His hobby is riding and tinkering with minibikes.

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