Submitted by Jewett Construction
For one week each year in March, the construction industry celebrates Women in Construction Week. The National Association of Women in Construction’s (NAWIC) event highlights women as a visible component of the construction industry. NAWIC’s mission is to enhance the success of women in the construction industry. This week of recognition is also a time for the industry to raise awareness of the opportunities available as it continues to grow and change over the coming decades. It is so important to spread awareness to girls and young women by highlighting these opportunities in an industry where the pay gap is substantially lower, opportunities for advancement are plentiful, and they are valued equally, as is not the case in many other industries.
It is the mission of Jewett Construction not just to raise awareness of the opportunities available for women but champion them. Out of 52 full-time associates at Jewett Construction, 23% are women, considerably higher than the national average of 14%. The women at Jewett hold positions in every part of our business, including executive leadership, accounting, and pre-construction. They all play an integral part in our business. One of the most exciting accomplishments of 2024 is that for the first time in the 52-year history of Jewett Construction, we recently completed a project managed by an all-female-led team including a female architect, female estimator, female project coordinator, female project manager, and female project accountant. This project for Team Nissan involved an overhaul of the exterior facade of the building. There was a mix of new facade including new EIFS, new ACM, and repainting of existing IMP. The interiors received new paint, flooring, new countertops in the bathrooms, and kitchenette in the customer lounge. We installed a new epoxy floor and repainted the service drive. The project also involved new brand signage and furniture throughout.
It is important to us that the industry as a whole becomes more inclusive; if the industry itself does not evolve, we are surely in for rough waters ahead. We’ve already seen this with the labor shortage; adding more women to our workforce only makes us better by adding different ways of problem-solving, additional perspectives, and additional insight. We are so grateful to have the women of Jewett; they are exceptional team members and people. We want to take this opportunity to thank them all for their continued contributions to this team.
If you are interested in joining the team, visit jewettconstruction.com to see all of our current openings. Who knows, maybe you’ll be featured as a part of Women in Construction week 2025!
