Kyle Duffy may be out of school for the summer, but he's still getting an education.

The Ottawa native was in the second semester of his freshman year at the University of Illinois, studying civil engineering, when he was approached with a job opportunity for the summer.

At first he was a little apprehensive when he heard about College Works Painting.

"I went to three interviews and the whole time I kept an open mind," he said. "It was a great experience for me to go to these interviews. All were conducted professionally. You learn to sell yourself."

Through College Works Painting, a national organization, Duffy was given the tools to manage his own painting business for the summer. He has hired and will manage a crew, seek customers and make sure jobs are completed as promised.

"I'm not doing the painting," he said. "My role is managing people and materials."

Instead of relaxing during spring break, Duffy was already working to find customers by going door-to-door and giving free estimates. He also began to hire painters, who received training from Sherwin-Williams. Duffy also completed the training.

While he may already know some of his employees, Duffy has had to take the reins and make sure everyone understands this is a professional business.

"They need to know that this is my business and I'm not joking around," he said. "I've set the tone with all the parties. It will be a lot of fun and we'll get to be outdoors. I'm really excited about the work."

Doing the estimates and sales pitches for potential customers has been one of the hardest parts of the process, and Duffy's manager went with him at first. But with time, it became easier.

"To sit at someone's kitchen table and ask them to spend $5,000 is really intimidating ... It took some time to get confident with it. Iwould tell myself that the worst they could tell me was no," he said.

The payroll system is computerized through the company to make sure everything is done correctly. The company also helps track leads and assists with marketing.

Duffy's business is now up and running and he plans to work through mid-August when he returns to U of I. While the experience may not have him considering a switch in careers, he's been happy with the skills he's been learning thus far. And given the economy, it's a good opportunity to work.

"This is the last thing I thought I would be doing,"he said. "But it's a new experience and I've been having a lot of fun with it."

For more information about College Works Painting, visit the Web site at www.collegeworks.com. Or call 1-888-450-WORK. To reach Kyle Duffy, call 815-326-5943.