My name is Ben Banks (NC State ’18) and I was able to spend the day at the office, but not just any office – the office of my dad, Alan Banks. In case you were somehow unaware, Evans Coghill is a Charlotte NC new home building company. Anyways,  this isn’t meant to be a pitch, I just wanted to share some of what we (or I) did today.

We started the day with a morning bible study at a local restaurant, we met with people my father had been meeting with for about 10 years. The conversation was engaging and a great start to the day. From there we went to the office, greeted everyone and I was assigned my first task: to take out the recyclables, which makes sense, I was there to help where I could.

Around 9:45 we left to go to a Charlotte HBA (Home Builders Association) meeting where the budget was discussed and plans were made for the upcoming year. Interesting how competitors come together to work for whole industry. The meeting was relatively short and afterwards we hopped back into the car and drove down to South Carolina to sign some paper work to close on a home. My dad said closings are always the happiest day for everyone. Someone gets a new home and we sell a home!

I noticed how cheap the gas prices were in South Carolina, it is quite amazing the difference in prices (about 35 cents). Anyways, after the paperwork was signed, we made our way over to Springfield to take some pictures of a completed home. We spent about 25 minutes there, taking picture both inside and out, all different angles and rooms. (see picture of me trying to get the attic stairs closed). On a side note, it is rather odd to see a home without a single piece of furniture within it, but the design was still elegantly simple and effective.

It was about noon at this point, so on our way back to the office we stopped for lunch at a Greek restaurant, it was great.

When we arrived back in the office, I was assigned with the ‘age appropriate’ task of deleting data off of old hard drives. This job was interesting and meticulous. Taking apart computers is not an easy feat, especially considering how small the screws can be. Nevertheless, I was able to complete it and you’ll be happy to know, there is no more data on the hard drives (I destroyed the hard drives).

Around 3 PM now, and it was time to sit down with the marketing/social media expert. This was actually an extremely interesting meeting as it was ‘up my alley’ in terms of the terminology and strategy spoken about. After this meeting, we discussed the recommended strategies with my dad so he could gain a unique perspective from a younger mind.

Overall, the day was chalked full of traveling, meeting and talking. It went by quickly and it is hard to believe that there is this much communication involved with business – it’s exciting.

(PS. Apparently, I must have done something right as a I was asked to come back for day two. Recognizing my keen sense of arranging small spaces ( I live in a  very small dorm room at NC State), I was given the very important task of organizing a job site trailer at Riverwalk. I am proud of my work. Likely the neatest it has been since Evans Coghill got it. Take a look at the before and after picture.)

Maybe I can turn this into a summer job???