Building Each Other Up: Celebrating Women in Construction Week

by Jana Cooper, LEED AP
Construction Business Development

Every year, International Women’s Day reminds us of the power women have on our planet and the strides we still have to take for gender equality worldwide. This need translates to every industry, market, and community, including ours. That’s why every year, Women in Construction week is planned around International Women’s Day. They go hand in hand.

As members of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), my colleagues and I are part of a community to continually support and promote women working in our industry. NAWIC is a great networking resource for women within the construction industry which, as of 2014,  is only 8.9 percent of almost 10 million people.  The association was formed in Forth Worth, Texas in 1953 by 16 women in the construction industry.  To date there are over 150 chapters nationwide and nearly 4,000 members.  NAWIC also has a global presence in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

The Grand Rapids Chapter of NAWIC was founded in 1973, and is very active within the community!  Recent volunteering events include sprucing up Family Promise, a shelter for homeless families, as well as hosting an event for 5th graders to learn more about the construction industry.  You can find out more about the Grand Rapids chapter here. What’s more, a number of my colleagues at Custer are involved in the Kalamazoo Battle Creek chapter, and were joined on Monday by Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell for his recognizing NAWIC and officially proclaiming this week as Women in Construction Week. Awesome!

Here, Custer’s Tobi Hartman (right) joins other members of NAWIC for a special recognition of Women in Construction Week by Mayor Bobby Hopewell (center).

In addition to the NAWIC community, there are other local initiatives that support minorities in the industry. The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce supports a program called the West Michigan Minority Contractors Association (WMMCA), through which women-owned and ethnic minority-owned general contractors can network and promote their businesses.

For those who are interested in an insider’s perspective on the industry, the forthcoming film Hard-Hatted Woman documents several women within the various construction roles, from management to site labor.  The film is the first feature-length documentary about women breaking down gender barriers in blue-collar construction trades. Lorien Barlow, the film’s producer, is hoping the film will encourage and promote more women to pursue the field as well as provide a platform for the women working in construction.

In the last 30 years, the number of women in the construction industry has grown by more than 80%. What’s more, from 1997 to 2002 there was a 20% growth rate among the number of all women-owned construction firms, with a 67% growth rate for the same years among women-owned construction firms without employees.  Although one of the industries with the lowest concentration of female-owned businesses, today 7% of all construction companies are owned by women. These numbers are encouraging to me! I hope they are as encouraging to other women within the industry or those who are considering entering it.

On that note, currently there is a shortage of skilled trade workers, especially in West Michigan.  Hopefully more women will consider working in the field and fill some of these vacancies! Your fellow women in construction will be here to welcome you when you do.

 

Jana Cooper, RA, LEED AP is in Construction Business Development at Custer, working with local sub-contractors to gather quotes for small renovation projects that coincide with new furniture opportunities. Find more information about Custer’s interior renovations here.