Repost: Local women business owners benefit from state initiative

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo made it a priority last year to connect women and minority-owned businesses with state contracts. He announced in October that the Department of Economic Development had awarded a record 21.06 percent in state contracts to such firms, exceeding its goal of 20 percent.

Mark DiOrio / Observer-Dispatch
Lynne Angelicola of R.O.I. Office Interiors received her Women Business Enterprise Certification in August, giving her the opportunity to bid on office interior contract that are funded by the state. Angelicola looks at a sample board of office materials for the Utica College Harza Building Site, Jan 6, 2014 in Rome, N.Y.

by Philip A. Vanno
Posted Jan. 14, 2014

Over the past 20 years, Lynne Angelicola, president of Roberts Office Interiors, has had to juggle running her Rome-based commercial office furniture dealership and interior design operation while taking care of her home and raising two children.

While she's had plenty of help from her husband, Robert, who runs the company's sales department, perhaps her biggest aid came in August when, after a lengthy application process, her business became certified as a Women Business Enterprise by the New York State Department of Economic Development.

"We were very excited when it was finally approved," Angelicola said. "This provides us with many new opportunities that we wouldn't have had before, and we have already started to see the effects."

Since receiving the distinction, which was instituted by the state to eliminate barriers and discrimination and expand the participation of women-owned businesses in the state contracting process, Roberts Office Interiors has landed a $400,000 contract to outfit a new building at SUNY Binghamton, and has a handful of other projects in the works with other SUNY schools.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo made it a priority last year to connect women and minority-owned businesses with state contracts. He announced in October that the Department of Economic Development had awarded a record 21.06 percent in state contracts to such firms, exceeding its goal of 20 percent.

In all, $1.48 billion in contracts from 97 public agencies and authorities were awarded to women and minority-owned business enterprises in fiscal year 2012-1013.

"The diversity in this state is one of our greatest assets … and we remain committed to leveling the playing field for thousands of small businesses and opening the door to greater economic activity and job growth," Cuomo said in a news release. "The success of thousands of minority- and women-owned firms seeking to compete and advance in the marketplace is critical to igniting economic growth and spurring prosperity in all of our communities statewide."

Another beneficiary of the program is Jennifer Keida, who started JRT Construction Services in Marcy three years ago in an attempt to capitalize off of the experience and contacts she accumulated during her 13 years as chief operations officer for her father's business, Standard Insulating Co.

While she still maintains her role with that company, Keida said she is very eager to expand her horizons with her new venture, especially since receiving her certification as a Women Business Enterprise last month.

"Being a woman in the construction field, I have worked just as hard as anyone, but this gives me an opportunity to showcase my talents that might have otherwise been overlooked," Keida said. "The doors this is going to open should make 2014 a good year."

Follow @OD_Vanno on Twitter or call him at 792-5074.

View the original article at http://www.uticaod.com/article/20140114/NEWS/140109694#ixzz2qU6GN0fe.

Repost: Illinois program recruits more women, minorities for construction work

By Judy Masterson

jmasterson@stmedianetwork.com

January 11, 2014

Wesley Simpson of Waukegan is serious about getting a good job, which is why he recently underwent a rugged 11-week training program for road construction.

“Getting this opportunity means a lot,” said Simpson, 33, who last earned $10 an hour as a forklift driver, a job in Aurora, more than 60 miles from home.

Road construction, though seasonal, pays well and offers good benefits. Simpson could earn between $15 and $20 an hour to start. If he lands an apprenticeship, his hourly wage would climb to $37.

“I need the money,” Simpson said. “I have a 6-year-old son to support.”

Simpson graduated in December from T.C.A.R.T., the Transportation Construction Apprenticeship Readiness Training, Referral and Intermodal Placement Program. It’s a long name for a clear-cut goal: recruiting minorities and women for government-funded road construction.

“The bottom line is right now in the state of Illinois approximately 92 percent of highway construction workers are white males,” said Rev. Arthur Gass, president of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Lake County. “Those numbers have to change if we’re going to be in compliance with state and federal mandates.”

The Black Chamber is one of four community-based organizations − the other three are in Chicago − that are working in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation to recruit and train people for the program, which consists of three-weeks of classes in construction math and comportment and eight weeks of hands-on-construction training in south suburban Wilmington.

Just 125 T.C.A.R.T. spots are available for residents of Lake and McHenry counties; 532 applications were accepted.

Trainees are 85 percent African American, 12 percent Hispanic and 3 percent white, according to Gass, who said federal contracts require 16.9 percent minority and 6.9 percent female participation.

“The workforce ought to reflect the diversity of the community,” Gass said. “Highway construction jobs are supported by the motor fuel tax, 14 percent of which is paid by African Americans and yet we pick up less than 2 percent of those jobs. That’s pretty lopsided.”

Petite Coleman, 30, of Beach Park, last earned $12.31 an hour as a certified computer tech at a warehouse store in Vernon Hills. Her talent and liking for hands-on work came through during the technical training portion of T.C.A.R.T.

“Pouring and laying concrete was my favorite,” Coleman said. “The instructor had me doing multiple things and, by doing so many things, I was involved in the process from beginning to end.”

In road construction, Coleman said, she can work the same amount of hours but double her income. She wants to join a union. Her goal is to become a welding inspector, a job that requires a thorough knowledge of many trades.

“I’m a hard worker,” Coleman said. “I believe that you go to work to do your job. I don’t mind working long hours. I just want to be compensated.”

The Black Chamber will also work to help trainees find jobs for the springtime road construction season.

“We will reach out to any and all contractors, be they union or non-union, and make them aware that our people have the training, that they have the skill sets required and that they will make exemplary employees,” Gass said.

T.C.A.R.T. in Lake County has a 97 percent success rate so far, Gass said. The program has a zero tolerance policy for tardiness or absence. Trainees also have to figure out transportation to Wilmington, 95 miles south of Waukegan. Some have formed car pools. Some commute to Chicago to catch a bus from the Urban League office there.

“These are people determined to work and acquire the skills they need,” Gass said.

T.C.A.R.T., Gass said, “eliminates the excuse that contractors often use: that they can’t find qualified people.”

“They now have a pool of highly qualified people who have proven themselves,” Gass said.

For more information on the highway construction training program T.C.A.R.T., call the Black Chamber of Commerce of Lake County at (847) 599-9510 or the Chicago Urban League at (773) 285-5800.

Visit http://newssun.suntimes.com/ to view the original article.

Repost: Introducing women and girls to trades and technical professions

By Miranda Burski, L-P Specialty Products
December 28, 2013

Trade and technical professions have, traditionally, been male-dominated fields. But that tradition is changing, thanks in part to work done by the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST).

For the past several years, SIAST has partnered with Saskatchewan Women in Trades and Technology (SaskWITT) to introduce women and girls to various careers in the trades and technology fields. "We see that there is not gender equality in some programs, so we consider them to be male-dominated," says Anna Kwasnica, the provincial facilitator for SIAST's WITT programs. "Women don't face the same types of barriers that they might have 10, 15, 20 years ago in some of those areas, so now we're just looking at trying to get those numbers to increase."

As part of their partnership with SaskWITT, SIAST offers two main programs: one for girls in Grades 6, 7 and 8, and one for women in high school and above.

Girls Exploring Trades and Technology (GETT) camps take place each July at every SIAST campus across the province. The week-long day camps bring girls in Grades 6, 7 and 8 into contact with women who work in a variety of trades or technology fields. The camps also give girls the opportunity to work in pairs or teams on a number of projects, ending the week with the construction of a go-cart. SIAST has committed to running two GETT camps in 2014, the second of which will focus more on technical subjects such as sustainable energy and civil engineering.

The Women in Trades Exploratory course, meanwhile, gives women in high school and above the opportunity to experience a day in each of SIAST's trade shops. The hands-on course gives participants a better understanding of what training options are available, as well as an understanding of what is physically, emotionally and academically required to take part in one of SIAST's full training programs. The course is offered twice a year at the Regina and Saskatoon campuses, and registration is currently open for the courses taking place in January and February.

While the GETT camps are designed to introduce young girls to trades and technology in general, the Women in Trades Exploratory course is aimed more at women looking to explore their career options. "They get to actually use the tools in those shops and see if it's something that might be of interest to them," says Kwasnica. "We see a lot of people coming in that have maybe been nurses for 15 years that want to get out of that and want to do something with their hands because they're maybe looking for a change in life. And we see a lot of people coming out of high school that ... [say] 'I tried some of this in high school, but I can't decide between welding and electrical.'"

Since the partnership between SIAST and SaskWITT was launched, SIAST has seen an increase of the number of women enrolling in its trades programs. While enrolment still isn't as high as SIAST wants it to be, the number of women in trades programs doubled between 2007 and 2012. The numbers for technical programs remained consistent at about 15 per cent female enrollment.

"We see women coming into those areas - obviously those barriers are not the same as they used to be, so it's just kind of steadily increasing," says Kwasnica. "We want to see that, where it's not a question of equity anymore, it's just tradespeople."

For more information or to register for the SIAST and SaskWITT programs, call Kwasnica at 306-691-8446, or visit gosiast.com and click on "Women in Trades and Technology" under the "Programs and Courses" tab.

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