Nokia teens to get paid summer jobs building playhouses at Kartanonranta

JM Suomi announced a summer entrepreneurship project that will hire 14–16-year-olds from Nokia to build playhouses at the Nokian Kartanonranta development starting in early June, in cooperation with Vesilahden-Tottijärven 4H.

The firm and 4H will set up nine young participants in three-person teams; each team will construct one playhouse during a two-week period. JM Suomi has committed to buying the construction service from the youth companies, which will invoice the developer. Applicants must complete a one-day entrepreneurship course, obtain a €30 accident insurance policy, and apply through Vesilahden-Tottijärven 4H’s website by May 3.

A-Insinöörit joins the project to supply design services and construction drawings, giving the young entrepreneurs exposure to planning and technical phases of a building project. The arrangement aims to combine hands-on carpentry with basic business experience as the teams take responsibility for producing a finished small structure.

"At JM Suomi we thought about how we could help young people get summer work. Together with 4H we came up with a brand-new idea that helps preserve disappearing manual skills and at the same time invites young people to explore the construction industry," said Tuomas Salopää, head of JM Suomi’s Tampere division. Riina Markkola, executive director of Vesilahden-Tottijärven 4H, added that the scheme is a rare chance for 14-year-olds, who often struggle to find summer jobs.

JM Suomi said the playhouse builds fit its wider role as a homebuilder and that the company has not run a similar project before. Salopää also suggested, with a laugh, that the small houses could serve as a lighthearted prelude to this year’s regional housing fair season. JM Suomi is part of the JM Group, a major Nordic residential developer with operations across Sweden, Norway and Finland.