Group seeks to get more women into construction trades

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/09332EE90DDF729D86257405000F4564?OpenDocument

By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/07/2008


Mekole Fleming, of St. John, practices welding at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Training Facility. She is a member of the group Missouri Women in Trade and is working on receiving her welding certification.
(Sarah Conard/Special to the Post-Dispatch)


For almost 25 years, Pamela Crews has been among the small group of women who work in the construction trades.

"It's like being a male nurse where you are surrounded by hundreds of women. It's intimidating," said Crews, 42, who became a wallpaper hanger in the mid-1980s. "Being part of the minority all these years, I have always felt there should be more women in the construction industry."

Now Crews has teamed up with other women in construction trades such as carpentry, welding, painting and wallpaper hanging to start a local organization that she hopes will provide mentors to young women.

"I had no one to talk to, to compare my day, my life, my situation with, ever," Crews said. "I want young women to know they don't have to have a master's degree or work five jobs to

Missouri Women in Trades officially incorporated last month. Teresa Willis, another driving force behind the group, is the director. Willis has worked for women's rights most of her life, and spent 12 years as development director of a shelter for battered women.

About two years ago, she heard about a Chicago area group that helped women enter construction trades. It made her think about starting a similar local organization.

FULL story at link.