AWI prepares welders for workforce – and the world
How powerful is paper in NE Wisconsin?
July 15, 2024
NEENAH – According to the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, women made up less than 10% of Wisconsin’s construction industry’s workforce in 2022.
Dave Walsh, executive vice president of human resources, said Miron Construction Co. is looking to change that.
Like many others in the industry, Walsh said the Neenah-headquartered company focuses heavily on recruitment – with a huge push on encouraging women to enter the trade, a move he said he sees as a no-brainer.
“If they’re trying to get women to join construction, think about Wisconsin women and how resilient they are,” he said.
For the past eight years, in an effort to educate and build female interest in the industry, Walsh said, Miron has hosted Build Like a Girl events.
Mirrored after a similar initiative in the southern part of the country, Walsh said the day-long program – which welcomed nearly 30 students this year – aims to showcase opportunities for women in the construction industry.
“(It’s a) great opportunity to broaden the horizons of construction,” he said.
Walsh said the annual event – geared toward seventh- through tenth-grade female students – offers a full day of hands-on experiences, as well as an in-depth look at opportunities within the construction industry.
The day, he said, starts with basic education on safety at a construction site.
“We spend time teaching safe ways to do things,” he said.
From there, students toured an active job site – this year, Maplewood Middle School in Menasha, which is currently undergoing construction.
Then it’s the moment everyone waits for, Walsh said – the hands-on element.
“The whole day builds camaraderie,” he said. “Many of the girls are shy at the beginning, and by the end of the day, the teams have bonded and come together.”
Sara Montonati, communications and culture manager for Miron, said she enjoys watching the lightbulb moments happen in real-time with participants.
“Most of them came in with different expectations, and now their perspectives have changed,” she said. “We get girls interested in the trades here – there are some great success stories.”
Building up the industry
Walsh said though he hopes every girl at the event walked away feeling like Miron is the place for them, the general hope is the event inspires girls to think more seriously about choosing a career in the construction industry.
“If they decide to be an engineer somewhere or be an operator for a heavy highway company – the industry wins,” he said. “And the more women you have in construction, more can envision themselves doing it.”
Madi Ibarra, an operating apprentice with Miron, said the Build Like a Girl event allows her to show younger versions of herself the ins and outs of her job.
“These tasks are a small portion of our every day,” she said.
Getting kids involved young, Ibarra said, allows mentors to stress the positive impact it’ll have later in life when making career choices – because no matter which career path they may choose in the construction industry, there’s room for growth and improvement.
Ibarra said she ranks careers in the construction industry as important as those of doctors or lawyers.
“I’m not saying those aren’t important jobs, but consider (this) – we make the roads that get them there,” she said. “We put the building together they can treat their patients in.”
College, Ibarra said, isn’t for everyone, and “that’s okay.”
“Within the trades, you might be put into an environment and find you excel at things you never thought possible,” she said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
With students being asked to choose career clusters in school earlier nowadays, Walsh said events like Build Like a Girl help showcase the possibilities of a career in the trades.
“Miron is trying to get in on that (thought process) early, so they can think about this before they hit 16-17 (years old), and they’ve got a job somewhere else,” he said. “You’re not necessarily as open-minded (then) – we’re trying to capture that while (students) are still open to possibilities.”
At the same time, Montonati said there is a stereotype out there that paints construction as somewhere you go when you can’t find other work.
She said she is confident with events like Build Like a Girl, that stereotype will change for the better.
“I think some women and girls have an understanding that construction might be laborious or backbreaking work, and because of that, they have a perception they’re at a deficit when comparing themselves to their male counterparts,” she said.
Piggy-backing on Montonati’s comments, Justine Eron, Miron’s communications coordinator, said the event shows girls they are capable of working in the trades.
Walsh said no one knows this better than program mentor Jenna Johanknecht, who participated in the program in 2017 and 2018.
Johanknecht, now 21, is now a virtual construction intern at Miron.
“It was (Miron employee) Melissa Schulteis who showed me how she maneuvers through these models and what she does for her daily work,” Johanknecht said. “I never thought I would be working alongside her now as an intern, however, I love it.”
Johanknecht said she liked the program so much her first year, she begged her dad to sign her up again the next.
“This event got me outside my comfort zone,” she said. “I would suggest exploring all the activities, and don’t take anything about the day for granted. I would’ve regretted not coming to this event.”
The forward-thinking approach of Miron’s virtual construction team, Walsh said, brings even more opportunities to the table – as technology advances spark the interest of a new generation of workers who not only understand it, but embrace it.
“Virtual construction is one of those situations where if you don’t want to be outside but you want to be involved in construction and like computers, this is for you,” he said.
Though the Build Like a Girl event’s impact is focused on the students, Walsh said it positively affects program mentors and professional craftspeople as well.
“They see the girls enthusiastic and wanting to learn – the day fires them up,” he said.
The interactions students have with Miron employees and mentors, Ibarra said, can also lead to conversations with friends and family about a potential future in the industry.
Now in her second year as a mentor, Ibarra said she’s proud of what she does at Miron and is thrilled to share that excitement with others.
“I think what pushes me is showing these girls the cool things I do,” she said. “Showing them that it’s possible to break through the stereotypes and do what you want with your life.”
Montonati said Miron has held similar events in Wausau, Madison, Iowa and will have one in Eau Claire later this month.
For more on Miron’s Build Like a Girl events, visit mironbuildlikeagirl.com.
Focused strategic goal
Though construction is oftentimes viewed as a male-dominated industry, Walsh said, “if we can open up girls’ minds to start asking questions (about the industry), we can change the storyline.”
That narrative, he said, is why Miron signed onto the Million Women in Construction Community Pledge – a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative aimed at bringing more women into the construction workforce.
Miron is one of two Northeast Wisconsin-based companies to sign the pledge – the other being The Boldt Company.
Walsh said Miron is committed to its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“We want to increase gender diversity in the field by 50% and racial diversity by 50%,” he said. “I want people to know it’s not just lip service. We’re not making an event and accepting that whatever happens, happens. We’re making this a focused strategic goal.”
