Celebrating Women in Construction
“We are always proud to promote the many contributions made by women to the construction industry and are excited to celebrate Women in Construction Week, March 1-7. The focus of WIC Week is to highlight women as a visible component of the construction industry. It is also a time for local chapters to give back to their communities. WIC Week provides an occasion for NAWIC’s thousands of members across the country to raise awareness of the opportunities available for women in the construction industry and to emphasize the growing role of women in the industry.” –NCCER
Read these great articles celebrating women in the industry-
March 6- At Nevada Builders Alliance we are very proud of our Board of Directors. and today’s blog is especially relevant as we celebrate the three women who serve on it. As we wrap up Women In Construction week, we wanted to take this time to show our appreciation for these women, for what they do for Nevada Builders Alliance, in their profession, and for being a positive example to women everywhere.
Melissa Caron- CEO, A.M. Smith Electric, Inc.
Local to Carson City, Melissa Caron was raised in the electrical industry often spending weekends and evenings working alongside her family. During this time working alongside other trades people it became apparent that construction was not just about the job but about the pride you have in being a part of the building process. It was in this environment that her appreciation for the construction trades grew, what better thing could you give a company and the community than a building that your blood, sweat, and yes, tears went into building? As time went by the emphasis was on management but the love of construction never died. Today she is President and CEO of A.M. Smith Electric, Inc. performing commercial and industrial electrical as well as personally taking on design build projects. In addition to this she has become an expert witness for construction defect defense which is ravaging our industry, in an attempt to bring experienced help to the contractors defending their companies work. To this day the most enjoyable part of construction is not just the buildings she helps construct, but the relationships she builds too.
Angela Fuss- Director of Planning, CFA
Angela Fuss is the Director of Planning for CFA, a civil engineering firm located in Reno. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Policy Analysis. At that time, she really didn’t know what she was going to do with her degree and was not even considering a career in land use planning. Angela’s first professional job out of college was as a secretary with a regional planning agency. After a few short months, she realized that a job that dealt with land use and policy decision making was exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up. She was fortunate enough to have a great boss at the time, who saw her potential, and mentored her into a role as a Planner. Angela worked in the government sector for a few years, before beginning work at CFA in 2004. She started out at CFA as an Assistant Planner, and over the course of ten years, worked her way up to the Director of Planning. Angela says she is fortunate in that she can honestly say that she loves her job; it’s a combination of the people she gets to work with every day and the actual work itself. Angela is often asked, “What do you plan?” Land Planning is the first step that a developer takes upon acquiring a site. She works with developers and design professionals (engineers, surveyors, architects, etc.) to figure out how the location of a building, streets, walkways, open space, parking, landscaping, etc. all function together on a piece of land. The other piece to the puzzle is then to figure out how the development will meet the various regulatory agency and Zoning Code requirements. Once the project layout is determined, Angela works with the developer to process any zoning entitlements through the agency staff review and often on to a Planning Commission or City Council for approval. In that respect, Angela feels more like a lobbyist, as she tries to represent her client’s interests, while also having the communities interest at heart. Her favorite part of the job is that every day and every project she works on presents its own set of challenges. As the economy starts to pick up again in northern Nevada, those of us in the land use planning profession, are able to take part in shaping what this community will look like for years to come. Angela takes that job very seriously and tries to work with her clients to create development that is sustainable and something she can be proud to say she was involved in creating, even twenty years from now.
Stephanie Allen- Partner, Kaempfer Crowell
Stephanie H. Allen is a Partner of the Firm who focuses her practice in the areas of government affairs, land use and zoning, administrative law, real estate law and litigation. She joined the Firm in 2004. Ms. Allen represents local and national developers, home builders, property owners and individuals on land use and zoning and real estate matters in Nevada. She appears before various local governmental boards and commissions on issues related to land use entitlements, development agreements, inter-local agreements, government contracts and property tax appeals. Since 2004, Ms. Allen has appeared on numerous occasions at council, commission and board meetings representing clients and gaining approvals for the development of residential, high-rise, mixed-use, commercial, industrial, gaming and master-planned communities. In addition to land use related matters, Ms. Allen has successfully represented clients on hundreds of property tax appeals before the various Boards of Equalization. Ms. Allen also represents clients on other real estate related matters such as lease negotiations and drafting, utility and easement agreements and purchase and sale agreements. She regularly handles commercial litigation, administrative law litigation and insurance defense litigation as well with experience in deficiency actions, petitions for judicial review, writs of mandamus, personal injury defense, construction defect defense, premise liability defense and medical malpractice defense. (http://www.kcnvlaw.com/)
March 5- Read the facts and statistics about women in construction from the Nation Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC), and learn how to get involved in a chapter near you.
Summer Camp Attract Girls to the Construction Industry
March 4- The history of Rosie the Riveter and why she is still campaigning for women in the workforce
March 3- New Professional Organization for Women in Construction Operations
March 2- Celebrating Women in Construction
It is in this spirit that we at Nevada Builders Alliance would like to salute the ongoing efforts of our Womens’ Coucil. The Nevada Builders Alliance Womens’ Council is dedicated to supporting the professional development of women in the construction industry. The Council provides ongoing professional development and networking opportunities to its members as well as performs philanthropic activities in the community with its Helping Hands project. The organization is open to any female employee of a Nevada Builders Alliance member, affiliate or partner company.
For more information about the Nevada Builders Alliance Womens’ Council, contact Michele Creasey, Womens’ Council President at 283-4224 or Pam Duxbury, Nevada Builders Alliance Outreach Coordinator at 882-4353.