Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction was recently honored by Wentworth Institute of Technology and the Wentworth Alumni Association with their Distinguished Employer Award for 2009.

The firm said the award recognizes the mutually beneficial partnership enjoyed by both organizations over the past decade.

From a pool of more than 500 firms engaged in on-campus recruiting at Wentworth, Shawmut was singled-out for its strong efforts in supporting student development and its robust campus outreach, the firm said.

As a national construction manager and general contractor, Shawmut actively recruits Wentworth students each year to support its growing business. Most of these recent college hires enter Shawmut’s Construction Management Skills Training (CMST) or Estimating Development Programs (EDP) which are designed to train and develop young construction professionals over three intensive years.

Overall, there are about 100 employees at Shawmut who are alumni of Wentworth, including managing director of the commercial group, Michael Sanchez, who is also an active board member of the Wentworth Alumni Association.

 "We are honored to be a recipient of this year’s Distinguished Employer award," said Paul Doherty, vice president of field operations at Shawmut. "We feel that our relationship with Wentworth has never been one way. Our relationship is one in which Shawmut is integrated into the Wentworth program, providing services such as mentoring and externships, cooperative education experiences, guest speaking, guest lecturing and involvement in numerous school committees."