Nicholas Keniston Builds a Career in Construction Before Graduation
When Nicholas Keniston graduates from Cape Fear Community College’s Construction Management program this May, he will already be doing the kind of work many people spend years trying to reach.
While balancing classes, a growing family, and a full-time job, Keniston has risen to project manager and business developer at Elm Builders, along with its sister company, NOMAD Capital, where he manages multi-million-dollar construction projects, helps bring in new business, and has started helping connect other CFCC students with opportunities at the company.
The rise was fast, but the path that brought him here did not begin in construction.
Before Construction
Originally from Wilmington, Keniston joined the Marine Corps two days after graduating from high school and spent eight years in the infantry.
“My dad was a marine for 30 years, and he gave me an ultimatum,” he shared. “He said either you go to school or you join. I knew I wasn’t ready for college. I was too rambunctious.”
After leaving the military, Keniston moved to Boston, where he spent three and a half years working in sales while doing personal training on the side. Eventually, he and his wife decided to move back to North Carolina.
“I wanted to show her where I grew up,” he said.
Back in Wilmington, Keniston began working at Lowe’s Home Improvement and started to think seriously about what came next. That’s when he began hearing more about construction management and the opportunities in the field.
“I heard about how much money you can make,” he said. “So I enrolled at Cape Fear.”
Finding Elm Builders
During his second semester, Keniston found Elm Builders through Handshake, the college’s job platform that connects students with employers. When he interviewed, he was upfront about where he stood.
“I told them, ‘I’m going through school. I don’t know the amount of knowledge you’re asking for, but I promise I will figure it out,” he said.
Elm Builders took a chance on him. Keniston started out helping project managers in the office, assisting with marketing, accounting, and day-to-day project support.
Just a few months later, the company promoted him to assistant project manager. Even while carrying a full class schedule, Keniston routinely worked 30 to 45 hours a week.
Before long, Elm Builders gave him an incredible opportunity. They needed someone to step in and lead a multi-million dollar project. He did. The original timeline was about 11 months.
“I said I was going to get it done in seven,” he said.
The project proved what Elm Builders already suspected. Soon after, the company officially promoted him to the position of full-time project manager.
Keniston’s background in sales also helped him build relationships. After helping Elm Builders secure a strong steel partnership, he began bringing in new opportunities for the company and eventually added business development to his role.
Receiving support from the classroom
Keniston credits CFCC’s Construction Management Program Director, Tyler Gemmell, with helping prepare him for both the classroom and the field.
“He’s down to earth, realistic, and all about hands-on training.”
Keniston said Gemmell regularly helps him solve challenges on the job and connect with local people and resources.
Seeing the end goal
Balancing school, work, and family, especially with one child at home and another on the way, still comes with its challenges, but Keniston has built a routine around it.
“I come into work two hours early. I loaded up on summer classes so I could finish as quickly as possible. Sunday is my day to catch up on homework and prepare for the week ahead. I think the military background helped. I have an end goal,” he said.
Being Ruthlessly Ambitious
Morgan Adcox and Nicholas Keniston
“I work with phenomenal people,” he said. “It’s a family-owned business, and I’ve never seen a company that wants to see as much personal growth in you.”
“When you’re backed by a company that would give you the shirt off its back, it makes you want to work even harder. I’ll retire from this company.”
As he prepares to graduate in May, Keniston is already helping open doors for other CFCC students.
He was the first CFCC student to work at Elm Builders. Since then, he has already helped hire another upcoming graduate of the Construction Management program, Morgan Adcox, and the company plans to hire more graduates in the future.
For Keniston, it is about more than his own career. With his family now rooted in Wilmington, he wants to help build something that lasts.
“Elm Builders wants to build a local presence,” he said. “We want to be the people who live here, whose kids grow up here, whose grandkids grow up here. We want to be able to drive around one day and say, ‘Yeah, I built that.'”
