Community Benefits Agreements: Contracts tying stakeholders of large projects to objectives that benefit a project-affected community, e.g., targeted hires of women and minorities.

CBAs are now a hot topic at the intersection of social justice and public contracting. Four years ago, the city of Portland established a pilot program to measure the efficacy of the emerging contract delivery method using two Water Bureau projects as test cases. Now, the results of an independent evaluation are in and they don’t portray a sweeping success.

Among the criticisms in the report: a community oversight board charged with disbursing “set-aside” funds that was burdened by too many responsibilities and that operated near the line of conflict of interest – with board members receiving more than 80 percent of the money allotted by the board. Another was the inclusion of a $500,000 line item by the contractor to administer the pilot program. Plus, “few” of the programs funded by set-aside dollars had anything to do with the two Water Bureau projects.

For the reasons outlined in the report, city officials are concerned about a repeat of the pilot project, and worry about using pure CBAs again.

Conflict building

Portland had business goals for hiring more women and minorities prior to a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking them down and others like them. In 1994, the Portland City Council established the Workforce Training and Hiring Program under then-Mayor Vera Katz. Other efforts to crack a construction workforce almost entirely white and male followed, including the Sheltered Market Program in the late 1990s, and later the imposition of Good Faith Effort requirements.

Despite these efforts, observers note a stark lack of progress. Some have complained that through the current building boom the city has been able to hit its diversity targets only through increased utilization of minorities in the “peripheral” trades – hauling, flagging, custodial work, etc. – that pay less, are more dangerous, and, some say, reinforce damaging stereotypes.

Community Benefits Agreements were devised as a way to hold developers to promises they often make to governments to win project approval – through the use of contracts with stakeholders and regular check-ins.

In September 2012 the City Council resolved to test CBAs on two Water Bureau projects. Using best practices devised by the UCLA Labor Center as a guide, coalition members spent two years drafting the contracts used in the pilot project, according to Kelly Haines, a senior project manager with Worksystems Inc., an administrative entity involved.

For the $57 million Kelly Butte project, an above-ground 10-million-gallon steel tank was replaced with a 25-million-gallon reinforced concrete underground reservoir. For the $35 million Interstate Maintenance Facility renovation, a 28,000-square-foot building and a 38,000-square-foot building were constructed to replace an outdated bureau facility. Hoffman Construction was the general contractor-construction manager for both projects.

The CBA coalition was made up of community organizations, labor unions, minority business owners and pre-apprenticeship training programs. It was charged with overseeing broad aspects of the two projects, including the dispersal of 1 percent of total construction costs earmarked for CBA-related services (around $769,000). To distribute this money, it formed a group called the Labor Management Community Oversight Committee (LMCOC), which was made up of representatives of groups including the Urban League of Portland, Oregon Tradeswomen, Constructing Hope and Worksystems Inc.

Where the money went

The sole entity responsible for the management of funds and implementation of CBA programs was the LMCOC. According to the report, this arrangement led to numerous issues.

For one, the relatively small group of people who managed the CBA wrote the requests for proposals used on both projects. Though the report states that “no evidence” of actual conflicts of interest was found (members were said to have recused themselves when necessary), the LMCOC’s actions created the appearance of conflict of interest, according to the report by Framework LLC. The private evaluation, released in May, also found no evidence that LMCOC members ever signed conflict of interest statements – a standard move for leaders managing public funds.

Of the $769,651 from the 1 percent set-aside that went to CBA programs, 83 percent was awarded to members of the LMCOC. They include:

• Constructing Hope: $169,600
• Oregon Tradeswomen: $158,793
• WSI/CAWS: $111,687
• Portland Youth Builders: $96,200
• F.M. Burch & Associates: $61,743
• Emerald Cities-Portland: $37,310
• Urban League of Portland: $1,400

The city’s cost to administer the pilot program is estimated at $130,597, or 17 percent of the 1 percent set-aside. This includes staff time for the Procurement Services office, which spent an estimated 460 hours attending LMCOC meetings and preparing minutes and reports – at a direct cost of $25,000. Some of these services are already provided by the city for projects of this nature, according to the report.

Additionally, Hoffman Construction spent $542,000 to meet its workforce and contract diversity requirements, charging the costs to a line item titled, “CBA administration.”

“While some of these costs were related to LMCOC meetings and CBA reporting requirements, it is likely that most costs would have been incurred with or without a CBA,” the report states.

To this, Hoffman Construction Senior Vice President Bart Eberwein said the charges accurately reflect the cost to perform adequate outreach to minority communities and send senior staff members to regular meetings for three-plus years. He noted the pilot project achieved almost all of the city’s lofty diversity goals.

“They put their money where their mouth was,” he said. “I mean, this stuff doesn’t happen without a lot of time and effort. It’s to the city’s credit I think that they put diversity right up there with quality and schedule in terms of importance. And they had to put a little dough into it. And I think people should take their hats off to them.”

Beyond who got the money, there’s the matter of what work was completed. The report mentions that little of the 1 percent set-aside actually went to the Kelly Butte or Interstate projects.

“Few of the workers and firms participating in CBA-funded programs … were placed on or subcontracted to the two Water Bureau projects,” the report states.

In light of the issues mentioned in the report, Fred Miller, head of Portland’s Office of Management and Finance, has pushed to not employ a CBA on the upcoming Portland Building seismic upgrade/renovation, which his office is overseeing. The $195 million project is currently in preconstruction, and its own 1 percent set-aside has been the subject of scrutiny by the city’s Equitable Contracting and Purchasing Commission, and elsewhere.

Miller pointed to a portion of the report comparing the two pilot program projects against other contract delivery methods used by the city – Sheltered Market and Good Faith Effort.

“The aggregate results are not appreciably different from other projects,” he said.

Miller is pushing to use a modified form of CBA for the Portland Building project.

“I’m uncomfortable with a set-up where people don’t sign conflict of interest statements,” he said, “and the vast majority of the money is allocated to themselves.”

Target practice

It’s worth noting that in one important sense, the pilot project was a sure success: achieving its stated mission of meeting the city’s ambitious diversity targets. Fifty percent of apprentice hours for the Kelly Butte project were worked by minorities (the goal was 18 percent). A third of hard construction costs for the Interstate project went to M/W/DBE firms (12 percent was the goal). With the exception of women journey-level workers, all CBA targets for the two projects were hit.

The Framework report doesn’t tell the whole story, according to Haines. Her group issued a clarification following the report’s publication. In it, she wrote that LMCOC members recused themselves whenever their organizations were under consideration for contract awards. She notes that city staff members served on the committee, attended every meeting and prepared meeting minutes.

“If there was any concern about conflict of interest, they were able to voice those concerns,” she said.

Conflicts are hard to avoid in this arena, Haines said, because few groups in Oregon are qualified to perform the services requested by a CBA. Only four organizations in the region were qualified to provide pre-apprenticeship services for the pilot project, and one – Portland Community College – declined to participate.

“It’s kind of a small pool with few fish,” she said. “It’s hard when you want to work with qualified and experienced training providers, and there’s only so many in this area.”

Overall, Haines called the experience “a little bit frustrating.”

“That evaluation pulled out some lessons learned about the pilot program and how we can improve on it,” she said. “But at the end of the day, all the money’s accounted for, people recused themselves – so it was all appropriately managed. But going forward, there can be more formalities in place.”

Several major projects lie ahead for the city, including the Portland Building project, the Washington Park Reservoir project, and park renovations being paid for with a $68 million bond.

Faye Burch of F.M. Burch & Associates said the pilot project retained more minority subcontractors than she’d seen before. The city benefited from having experts like OTI, Portland Youth Builders and Constructing Hope involved with the CBA, she said.

“They helped us get the numbers that we wanted to achieve,” she said.

However, CBAs aren’t right for all projects, Burch said.

“I think they fit some projects, and some projects, they don’t,” she said. “I think you can do it without a CBA, but I think this CBA had some great results.”

The post Pilot errors: test run of Community Benefits Agreement reveals flaws appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Teah Laurine is a single mother with two jobs and three children. She is spending her few spare hours building a house for herself and her family in Medford.

However, she is receiving a lot of help – from a group of about 10 women volunteering through . The program has two missions. The first is to help build houses for people who might not otherwise have a chance at homeownership. The second is to teach women construction skills.

The program started in 1991 when a group of women in Charlotte, N.C., completed the first women-built Habitat for Humanity house. Now, Habitat for Humanity International affiliates across the country have their own Women Build programs. They produce houses built almost entirely by women.

“Women can come to this great community of sharing,” said Tor Ostrom, the director of volunteer programs and corporate engagement for the Habitat affiliate in Portland. “When I first started, the thing I heard over and over again from women is that the program is both supporting and empowering at the same time.”

Laurine, 34, said building her own house with help from other women has been an amazing experience. She didn’t know the first thing about construction when she started, she said. Now she knows about almost every aspect of homebuilding.

“I’ve learned a lot,” she said. “Probably the biggest challenge has been finding time to work on the house. I’ve only been able to do construction on the weekends because I work and have three children. My youngest doesn’t really know what’s going on. He’s only 2. But the others are really excited.”

The Women Build program in Medford has operated for several years, springing out of an event that local volunteers used to gear around Mother’s Day.

“Several days prior to Mother’s Day, we bring in women to teach them the trades and have them help build a house,” said Denise James, the executive director of . “We had such a great response, we thought we could have a project completed entirely by women.”

Construction on Laurine’s house started in March, and she should be ready to move in by the end of the month.

“We tried to get this house 100 percent built by women. We have had women plumbers and women electricians,” James said.

There were times when men had to be brought in on the project, she added.

“Because we also wanted this to be a learning process, when there were certain trades where we couldn’t find men (consultants), we made sure it was a learning process for women.”

The process has been more than a bonding experience for the volunteers, James said.

“Through the process, we have women’s groups that have come and helped,” she said.

Laurine said the experience has changed her life.

“It’s been an amazing experience. Half the time, I am just overwhelmed by everyone and their generosity,” she said.

Ostrom said Portland volunteers are working on half of a duplex on the corner of 171st Avenue and Division Street. Volunteers so far have raised $68,000 for the $75,000 project.

The house should be finished by March 2013, Ostrom said. The project has drawn a wide variety of volunteers, he added.

“One of the great things about Women Build is that it engages people at every age, background and skill level,” he said.

Vickie Augustine is one of the volunteers in Medford. The 52-year-old Cave Junction resident comes to Medford to work on the house Wednesdays and Fridays.

“It’s been fantastic,” she said. “I’ve worked around tools, so I am not totally green, but I am still learning as I go along.”

A lot of the women who started as volunteers have gone on to construction careers, Augustine said.

Laurine isn’t looking for a construction career; she has enough jobs already. She is just looking for a home, she said.

Like all Habitat home recipients, she is required to do a lot of the construction herself. Laurine said she is fine with that. James added that Laurine, like the overwhelming majority of home recipients, is highly energetic and emotionally invested.

“She has to commit to 500 hours of sweat equity,” James said. “She’s way beyond that.”

More information about Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program is available at 503-287-9529 or online at .

The post Project entails building houses while teaching women construction skills appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Even though Kira Cador‘s father owned a development company, she didn’t decide to follow his footsteps until she met a woman involved in the industry.

“She was a real estate attorney, and she told me … ‘You can do this. It’s not rocket science,’ ” Cador said. “When you have a woman that says that to you and gives you support, it’s a lot easier to plug away.”

That was 22 years ago. Now, Cador, president of , develops multimillion-dollar housing projects along the West Coast.

She considers herself fortunate to have had a female mentor (in addition to her father) teach her the ins and outs of the development business. In the past, she said, women struggled to break into the field because they did not have anyone to relate to.

Today, the industry still is dominated by men. However, Cador and other women developers believe that is starting to change because more women are becoming mentors and more women are being exposed to the development profession.

“We’ve all acknowledged that it’s important to create environments where women can come up through the business or feel supported in an organization,” she said. “To me, it’s more helpful (to talk to women) than … to men.”

Cador said she and other women developers have teamed together to help educate young developers on how to succeed in the industry, just as she was taught.

As with many other industries, development is about building relationships; they’re the key to moving forward, according to Julie Gibson, assistant director at the .

“Mentors are critical in the field to guide you in your career,” she said. “It’s a huge asset to combine academic training with real-world experience.”

As part of her mission to inform students – women and men – how to enter the real estate industry, Gibson has reached out to women undergrads. Many of the classes within PSU’s real estate program are taught by women with professional experience; women students can relate to them, Gibson said.

One such teacher is Dee Walsh, executive director of . She teaches because she remembers how difficult it was to enter the industry without a mentor.

“One of the reasons I teach at PSU in the real estate program is to provide young women with role models in development,” she said. “I bring in a number of female lecturers to the class to help expose them to the range of options available to them.”

Some women developers didn’t rely on women mentors. Vanessa Sturgeon, president of , was introduced to the industry by her father and grandfather. She said she believes that women can succeed by maintaining confidence and not focusing on the gender aspect.

Anyeley Hallova, a partner with , learned about the business from Tom Cody, the managing partner at the firm. Cody hired Hallova in 2007 to work at Gerding Edlen Development, where he was formerly a partner, and introduced her to the industry.

However, both Sturgeon and Hallova recognize that more women are mentoring; Sturgeon said she has mentored multiple men and women herself. And they agreed that more women mentors could influence the number of women in the industry.

“For any women breaking in the field, there has to be some sort of connection,” Hallova said. “The history of (development) has more to do with the father passing down to the son … and because of that I don’t think there’s a lot of awareness of who developers are and how you become one.”

Clearer academic paths – like the real estate program at PSU, for example – are increasing awareness, she added.

Sometimes, Hallova said, women have opportunities that men don’t – such as a position with a company seeking greater diversity. However, women sometimes still face challenges and negative assumptions in the industry; having someone to relate to can make a big difference, Cador said.

“With the challenges you’re facing, you appreciate the relationships with other women in that capacity,” she said. “They come in at the same level.”

The post Women developers advising next generation appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Women builders teamed up recently to install accessibility upgrades and perform maintenance at a Southeast Portland home.

The post Photos: Women builders volunteer for REACH Community Development appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

During national Women in Construction Week the 91��Ƶ is shining the spotlight on a few of the women making impacts in the industry. We talked to four who are succeeding in Portland’s construction community and found a wide array of interests, backgrounds and career goals.

Ali O’Neill initially handled administrative duties for , a contracting firm she and her husband started in 1998. Eventually she became a project manager.

Sherlyn Martin is vice president of , a small, but growing construction company she started with her husband in 2003.

Christina Fell is a project manager for ‘s Special Projects Group, but she is developing a new position within the company to focus on MWESB outreach.

Lauren Holmes, a project manager with , two years ago received a regional honor from National Association of Women in Construction.

Ali O’Neill

Just as O’Neill Electric has grown substantially in the past decade, so too has Ali O’Neill’s role within the company.

O’Neill and her husband, Maurice Rahming, started the company together in Southwest Portland in 1998. At first, with no formal construction training, O’Neill worked in an administrative position to handle the paperwork part of the business.

“Honestly, Maurice asked for help, so I got into it out of the interest of helping my husband,” she said. “But once I got more exposed to the business, I started incorporating project manager into my role.”

O’Neill Electric has since become a multimillion-dollar contracting company, thanks in large part to the construction projects O’Neill has headed. Many of the projects have been federal contracting jobs for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most recently, she served as project manager for a $3.7 million addition to a forestry research center in Corvallis.

O’Neill calls herself “a proud graduate of the school of hard knocks,” because she learned about the construction industry firsthand, with no formal training. One thing she has discovered is that multiple areas of expertise are required – something she enjoys immensely.

“Growing up, you are told to pick a profession,” she said. “Although construction may not have the most glamorous reputation, you get to learn a lot about law, architecture … accounting – it really integrates a lot of professions into one role. It stays really interesting.”

O’Neill said that because of her gender she has had to fight at times to be taken seriously. She mentioned one instance when a potential employee called her husband “the brains of the operation,” and her “the pretty face.” Also, O’Neill Electric is a minority-owned business, which can come with its own set of challenges.

“In the field, you’re really in charge of a lot of technical details and a high dollar value, and it’s harder for women to be actually given that responsibility,” she said.

“I have a lot of friends who want to be architects, but women – and people in general – don’t realize you get to work a lot with architecture and engineering in construction. Getting a job in construction is a lot easier too.”

She added that she is unsure whether the number of women in her field will grow in the future. But O’Neill herself is continuing to take on bigger projects each year and set the bar higher for O’Neill Electric. – Reed Jackson

Sherlyn Martin

Sherlyn Martin is a serial entrepreneur. Though she doesn’t have any formal business training, Martin has a knack for spotting opportunities. She has opened an after-school program, a Creole catering company, and now she and her husband, Gilbert Martin, run a growing construction company based out of their home in Happy Valley.

Martin, 52, said she was tired of seeing her husband’s skills unappreciated at a construction company in California when she suggested starting their own business. So slightly over a decade ago, the Martins left the Bay Area in hopes of finding greener pastures in Portland.

“He was working really hard and wasn’t getting paid for his talent and expertise,” Martin said. “So I got on the computer and did some research. The Portland area seemed like a good place for construction.”

When the Martins first arrived, they passed out fliers and took on any projects they could get – mostly residential painting or flooring jobs. But networking through the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs and ongoing training helped GreenLife Construction land a five-year contract with the Air National Guard.

“Our business has been growing ever since,” Martin said.

Martin is the vice president and co-owner of GreenLife Construction, which focuses on commercial tenant improvement projects. While she used to work on the projects alongside her husband, she now spends most of her time soliciting subcontractors and coordinating paperwork for bids and budgets.

Martin said that when she used to work on more jobsites painting, roofing or carpeting, she often encountered men who didn’t think she could do the work by herself. But she dealt with situations through humor, by playing the role of a damsel in distress.

“I would just be like, ‘Oh, you’re so big and strong. Could you please, please help?’ And then he’d just walk away,” she said. “I mean, if I couldn’t do those things, I wouldn’t be there or take on those challenges, so my husband and I would joke with him that way.”

The Martins are again looking for creative ways to keep their business moving forward. The tight rental market in Portland has inspired the couple to begin eyeing plots of land and look into building a triplex.

“The accomplishments I’ve seen in myself and the way I’ve grown in this business gives me such a good feeling,” she said. “Women shouldn’t limit ourselves or be afraid to try different things, especially in the construction industry.” – Lindsey O’Brien

Christina Fell

A bit more than six years ago, Christina Fell became a project assistant at Emerick Construction. She has since worked her way up.

Fell helped build the company’s Special Projects Group, for which she was a division manager. The group allows Emerick to take on a wider range of projects, including jobs that require a shorter turnaround, or need a quick reaction to a unique situation – seismic retrofits, insurance claims or demolition, for example.

Just a few weeks ago, Fell, 35, returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her second child, and she will soon be transitioning again within the company.

Fell is designing a new position for herself, spearheading Emerick’s outreach to minority-owned, women-owned, and emerging small businesses.

“We need someone to corral all of the different sides of this thing and bring it all together,” Fell said. “(MWESB) is becoming very relevant in almost all public jobs. My challenge will be to set my own processes in place.”

While she has succeeded in the industry, Fell said that when she was in high school and college she never would have thought that she’d enter the construction industry. She began her career in the accounting department for a landscaper, and then moved on to another accounting position. But she grew restless.

“I wanted to do more,” she said.

Now Fell performs work that satisfies her, and serves as one of the directors of the Portland chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, where she values the opportunity to network and share stories.

“Women in the industry just have a different perspective, and it’s good on the business side and the personal side to support each other,” she said.

And Fell hopes that encouraging young girls to try their hands at construction work will result in progress for women in the industry.

Emerick recently completed renovating the building for the Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington on Southwest Barbur Boulevard. The company has developed a longer-lasting partnership with the Girl Scouts in conjunction with NAWIC. In the future, local girl scouts may have the opportunity to earn a “construction patch” by attending a program hosted by Emerick.

“Working in construction never even crossed my mind when I was that age – it just wasn’t an obvious direction to go,” she said. “But attitudes are changing in the industry and in general for what women can do.” – Lindsey O’Brien

Lauren Holmes

Despite being the daughter of an electrical contracting company’s vice president, Lauren Holmes, a Howard S. Wright project manager, wasn’t always sure she wanted to join the construction industry.

“I originally wanted to be a lawyer,” she said. “But once I found out how unexcited I was about business school, I wanted to try something different.”

After her freshman year at Oregon State University, Holmes sat down with a group of friends who were marketing majors and decided that she too wanted to go into advertising. However, she also wanted to put her math skills to good use, so she decided to major in construction engineering – a field that she said is similar to advertising.

“When it comes to construction projects, you have to sell your ideas and then implement them from start to finish,” she said.

Since graduating in 2005, Holmes has worked as both an engineer and a manager for a number of high-profile construction projects in the city, including the transformation of an abandoned industrial structure into the RiverEast Center green office building. She also has worked on numerous renovations for local schools.

“You get to feel a part of something (when working with schools); it feels like a home and a family as opposed to a job,” she said. “It’s really rewarding being able to work with students to teach them about the construction process and getting them to formulate a curriculum around green aspects of the new facility.”

Holmes, who was named 2010 Woman in Construction of the Year for the Northwest region by the National Association of Women in Construction, said she has had to overcome a number of preconceived notions of women in the industry.

“The industry for a lot of years has been about the ‘good old boys’ not trying to address the fact that there are more women entering into the field,” she said. “At times, people think I’m a receptionist when I walk into the job trailer, but that just means I have to work a little harder to prove myself.”

Holmes said her graduating class at OSU included only four women who majored in construction engineering. Every year since, however, she has noticed an increasing number of women entering her field.

“I hope to be a role model for other women taking this path to show them that anyone can do it if you roll up your sleeves and put in the work.” – Reed Jackson

The post Portland-area women find success in construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

At a lively event in Portland last week, the U.S. Department of Labor launched a new career guide, issuing a call for more women to enter the clean energy and green building workforces.

Presented for the first time to local tradeswomen, politicians, labor representatives and private employers, “Why Green is Your Color: A Woman’s Guide to a Sustainable Career” sparked a conversation about training opportunities, fair wages and women’s roles on job sites.

“There is a tremendous amount of interest in the region in green jobs and environmental fields, as well as the blue-collar fields that support them,” said Connie Ashbrook, executive director of and host of last week’s event. “Just as with other blue-collar jobs, women need to know that these jobs are open to them, and need to have resources to help them learn and get connected.”

DeAnedra Sadler, 23, has weatherized homes for for four months. She said she wishes she knew about opportunities in the trades at a younger age.

“It angers me that I’m just now finding out the training and different jobs,” Sadler said. “High schools have the military and colleges come in, but not apprenticeships. I would’ve pursued this at an earlier age if I knew how.”

The career guide highlights jobs ranging from logging supervisor to solar power technician to biomass plant engineer, and offers practical advice for job seekers. Also, the guide spotlights seven women, including Portlander Tara Webb, who are succeeding in various green jobs.

Webb, who spoke briefly at the launch event, is now working at the Intel project site in Hillsboro. She also has installed solar panels and climbed 300-foot windmills.

“I was the only woman out there with about 100 guys,” she said of her windmill-wiring job.

Webb, 27, didn’t have a chance to work on the towers until she filled in for an absent worker.

“You try to blend in, but you don’t,” she said, sparking laughter in the crowd of approximately 50 people. “But I went out there and wrestled with the best of them. I sat on top of the tower, and was just in awe.”

Webb, nearing completion of a five-year apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 Inside Electrician program, said she is looking forward to more “green adventures.”

More apprenticeship programs are adding green angles to their curricula, according to Anne Wetmore, state director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship in Oregon and Washington. And that trend, she said, could draw more women into various trades.

“There’s a shift going on in the way we view work in the trades,” Wetmore said. “People are more concerned about the results of the work that we’ve been doing – it’s more about energy efficiency and using the latest and greatest building materials, and that really does work well for women.”

The growing need for workers with technical training to meet the demand for “greener” practices in various industries spurred the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau to begin developing the green jobs guide more than a year ago.

“We knew the green industry was on the horizon in a lot of cities, so we wanted to put together a technical handbook to help women get into these higher-paying jobs,” said Betty Lock, regional administrator for the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, region 10. “It’s all about higher-paying jobs, especially since there are a lot of single-woman households, and a lot of low-income women are working more than one job.”

Lock said that women from all backgrounds can find opportunities in new fields – such as home weatherization – or in traditional trades that are transitioning into the green economy by using new technologies or materials.

But people involved with the new guide don’t want to overstate the connection between women and green jobs – many of the trades are attracting a small, but growing number of women workers. And many of them don’t feel as if their gender should always be at the forefront of the conversation about their occupation.

“I feel like I can do everything but fly right now,” Sadler said. “Everybody should do something that they would never have seen themselves doing – it’s a good lesson for everyone, not just women.”

The post Doors are open for women to work in clean energy, sustainability appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When Tara Kramer, owner of in Portland, entered the construction industry 25 years ago, it wasn’t like it is today.

“It was male-dominated, most definitely,” she said. “In fact, the company that I joined had 40 offices nationwide and they didn’t have any saleswomen.”

A lot has changed. Today, women-owned businesses make up an increasingly significant percentage of the nation’s contractors. But the industry still has a long way to go.

Kramer began working for , a large commercial flooring and roofing company, as a corporate receptionist. On a daily basis, she would speak with salesmen around the nation and ask them about their jobs. She said she saw the glass ceiling as a challenge and decided she was going to do that job despite what people told her was possible.

“You need to know more than your male counterparts,” Kramer said of the early advice she received from mentors. “It’s not (fair), but that’s just the way it’s going to be.”

So she studied day and night to learn about the company’s products. When she went into meetings, she knew what ethylene propylene diene monomer was and could explain the chemical components of different roofing membranes.

Kramer soon became one of three women to join the company’s sales ranks and was the first woman to open her own office in Portland. Even then, she said, people underestimated her.

“(I was) almost already set up for, ‘Hey, if it doesn’t work out … hey, you’re a woman,’ ” she said.

Today, women-owned small businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. economy. In 1972, fewer than 5 percent of the nation’s companies were owned by women. In 2007, according to the most recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 29 percent of the approximately 27 million U.S. firms were owned by women.

But the number of women-owned construction firms remains comparatively small. In 2007, only 5.94 percent of the nation’s employer companies were women-owned construction firms; 17 percent were male-owned construction firms. And that number for women-owned firms is only slightly higher than it was five years earlier.

Penny Pompei, executive director of , a national organization, said work still needs to be done to level the playing field.

“I think the biggest problem is public perception,” she said.

Pompei said that people often think of women-owned construction companies as small painting or landscaping contractors.

“If you tell them that women-owned construction companies build bridges and airports and high-rise buildings, and we have manufacturing companies that make the curtain wall systems that are used in high-rises … that’s where the surprise is,” she said. “It’s the perception that women don’t own major companies, when the reality is we have our fingers in everything.”

The construction industry was a natural fit for Pompei. Her father was in the business and so she grew up around conversations about creating buildings. She started an architectural firm in the 1980s and later began a company called DKM Construction that specialized in constructing financial buildings, hotels and casinos.

For Pompei, the love of the job came from a feeling of ownership that many in the industry share.

“There’s nothing like having a building that you know has your name on it,” she said. “It’s like carving your initials in a tree that you know is going to be there for 100 years.”

But even in 2012, Pompei said women still face discrimination when they walk into a bank and ask for a construction loan. She said bankers still wonder, “Who is behind you? Can we talk to your husband? Can we talk to your father?”

Kramer, however, said she is accepted a lot more these days.

“When (I) walk into a boardroom now, or a general contractor’s meeting, (I) don’t get that ‘shock and awe’ look that I used to get,” she said.

But she added that she understands it is a male-dominated industry. The “good ol’ boys club” still exists and it probably always will, she said.

But she doesn’t let that discourage her.

Her roofing company, which opened for business in 2007 at the onset of the recession, now has offices in Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania; expansion is planned for Hawaii and Arizona. She also has a separate solar panel installation company called Cool Planet Solar. All of that success has required hard work – 80 hours a week – as well as a love for building buildings and breaking down barriers.

“It is a challenge,” she said. “It’s that ‘Don’t tell me I can’t do it, because then I’m going to do it.’ ”

The post Women-owned construction firms on the rise despite public perception appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Tara Kramer, owner of in Portland, isn’t waiting for business to fall in her lap. Since opening her commercial roofing company in 2007, she has tripled her business, expanded into Washington and Pennsylvania, and has plans to open offices in Arizona and Hawaii by the second half of this year.

Kramer has some advice for small contractors looking to grow.

“In this economy, you have to take baby steps,” she said. “You have to keep your overhead low.”

To that end, Kramer’s first expansion was into Washington, which was close enough to let her maintain a greater amount of control over jobs. That step helped her lay the groundwork for future expansion, she said.

With trusted family and friends in Pittsburgh able to help watch the business, Kramer next turned to Pennsylvania. Then she looked for warm-winter markets where construction was strong, and formed plans for Arizona and Hawaii.

From the outset, Kramer intended to expand. Because Ri Ky Roofing is a woman-owned small business, she was able to take advantage of federal resources to develop a plan of attack.

“The biggest thing was (federal officials) putting us in touch with the right people – people that can actually help you find the opportunities,” she said. “The second thing is they show you how to cut through the red tape. That’s a big thing.”

Jim Steiner, a mentor with , an advisory leg of the Small Business Administration, was integral in that process. One of the first things he helped Kramer do was create a presence on online government contractor databases, like the and the federal government’s .

“You’re either in that registry or you get nada,” Steiner said of public work.

Being in those registries doesn’t guarantee jobs, but Steiner said it’s another way to get a business’ name out into the market. Then contractors can hit the streets.

“Nothing is as good as face-to-face, glad-handing, meeting, eyeball contracting when you’re networking, or when you’re involved with bid matching, or meeting the people that have the money that can do the deal,” he said. “You cannot just put yourself in the database, sit back at home and expect everyone to call you.”

Kramer is not sitting and waiting.

In addition to joining the and the , she’s working to establish a local presence in each of her markets. That guerrilla-style networking, she said, is imperative.

Pat Mahoney, business development manager for in Portland, can attest to that. Since the company opened in Portland in 1981, it has opened offices in Seattle, Sacramento and Irvine, Calif., and increased its sales volume from $360,000 to $550 million in 2008.

“When out-of-towners or other state contractors come to Portland and want to do work and they’re not viewed as Portland contractors, then they run into some resistance,” Mahoney said.

He said sometimes that occurs even within the state. For instance, if S.D. Deacon bid for a job in Bend, it might be viewed as a Portland contractor rather than a local one.

Establishing that local presence can require years of hard work too, so finding the right person to head the effort is essential, Mahoney said.

“You have to have the person before you have the location,” he said.

S.D. Deacon prefers to grow from within rather than hiring someone new to head up a new location, and Mahoney said it has held off on expansion plans in the past if a particular person was unable or unwilling to move.

Once a manager is identified, S.D. Deacon evaluates potential markets and identifies any national clients already there.

“We even let them know that we’re considering setting up an office (there),” Mahoney said. “ ‘What input do you have for us? What feedback do you have for us? And would that, from a strategic standpoint, would that help us capture business with you?’ ”

Kramer is looking to leverage relationships she has forged during her 25 years in the industry to get a foot in the door in new markets. One way she plans to economically blaze a trail into new areas is to form partnerships with existing firms.

Steiner said the idea is to bring technical and managerial expertise – the brain trust – to companies with a ready labor force that may lack the experience necessary to pursue certain jobs.

Kramer said she is in discussions with a couple of potential partners, but she declined to identify them. She said opportunities exist for companies looking to expand, but they should be prepared to work hard. When the going gets tough, she remembers a piece of advice her father used to tell her.

“People that say something’s impossible are the people that are not trying,” she said.

The post Portland contractor expands business, offers advice appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Daily Journal of Commerce will honor disadvantaged firms, minority- and women-owned companies, and emerging small businesses in the construction industry during the 2011 DMWESB TopProjects sit-down dinner and awards presentation.

A judging panel of industry professionals sifted through a pile of nominations in search of firms that had completed outstanding work on private buildings, infrastructure and public works projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The top-scoring firms will be announced during the event, along with individuals and companies that will receive special recognition for providing outstanding industry services and mentorship.

Tickets are $65. Registration is available at the 91��Ƶ 91��Ƶ page.

When: Thursday, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Nines, 525 S.W. Morrison St., Portland

The post Register for the 91��Ƶ’s DMWESB TopProjects event appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Most states are doing a “poor job” when it comes to offering on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities for women and minorities who want to work in highway construction, a recent study found. Progress is being made in Oregon, however.

The , a national network of community organizations, earlier this month released a study that provides detailed rankings of states in regard to on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs. Oregon ranked 10th in overall use of the training programs, and while there is still room for improvement in workforce diversity, barriers are beginning to be broken down.

The Oregon Legislature in 2009 passed a bill to dedicate one-half of one percent of all federal funds received by the Oregon Department of Transportation to increase diversity in highway construction and to train people interested in those jobs.

One local laborer apprentice attributes her full-time position to that legislation.

“I know that they love me on this job, but honestly I don’t think I’d have the opportunity to prove I was worth anything if it wasn’t for laws in place to get me out here,” said Lori Baumann, who is working for on the Oregon City bridge project. “It’s nothing personal, but they stick to their own – all these men I work with have generations of their dads and people in their lives working in this field.”

Angel McClain, a carpenter apprentice working with , has had a similar experience.

“The guys have been really great, but a lot of these guys (at Zemek) are younger,” said McClain, who is 35. “A lot of older guys are harder to win over – they’re just old school.”

Although hundreds of women worked in Portland’s shipyards during World War II, postwar culture shifted again and women didn’t begin re-entering the construction workforce until the 1970s, according to Connie Ashbrook, executive director of

“There is definitely an interest in the trades, but the pathway to get into the careers is much more complex because it involves more than just individual employers; there are apprenticeship programs as well,” Ashbrook said. “We found that women really need help to maneuver through that system unless they have a family member in the trades to help steer them through it.”

Baumann grew up in Georgia, where her father was a carpenter. She learned basic skills as a carpentry assistant at a young age, but her father’s experience did not inspire her to go into the field – the wages were very low, she said. Baumann didn’t consider a career in construction until she moved to Oregon and someone told her about OTI.

After graduating from the nonprofit’s pre-apprenticeship program in August 2009, Baumann worked for several companies; she has been with Wildish for more than a year.

“I love working with (Wildish) on bridges,” she said. “Fishermen and sea lions below me, bald eagles and hawks flying above me – we’re up in the air out here, and I like heights. I’m paid extremely fairly, and I’m happy here.”

The percentage of minorities and women working as apprentices or trainees on federally-funded projects has increased from 2008 to 2010 in Oregon, according to the report. The representation of minority on-the-job trainees and apprentices has grown from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 32.3 percent in 2010, when women represented 9.8 percent of all highway trades workers in Oregon.

“We try to take the training deal really seriously,” said Josh Smith, Wildish project manager for the Oregon City bridge project. “We try to find trainees who will move from job to job with us as a long-term employee.”

But outreach will be important for the number of women and minority trainees to continue to rise, Ashbrook said.

“The way people get jobs in the trades is through family and friend networks, so if your family and friends aren’t in these professions, then it’s really hard to learn about them and what you need to qualify,” she said.

As members of Congress make the case for investing in improvements for aging infrastructure, Ashbrook hopes that the diversity of the workforce will continue to grow.

“Hundreds of people come in our door every year expressing interest in construction, but not knowing what’s available to them,” she said.

Because OTI focuses on getting women into the trades, Ashbrook routinely sends men to OTI partners such as Constructing Hope and Urban League of Portland.

“And we really only reach out to a small part of our state’s population,” she said. “So that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

The post Highway construction still lacking women, minorities appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.