As the construction industry continues to grapple with a labor shortage, more women are assuming roles traditionally held by men.
Programs like BuildStrong Academy offer training and support to aspiring female tradespeople.
Victoria Son, a 2022 BuildStrong graduate, decided to transition from a potential career in dentistry to become a licensed general contractor.
Inspired by her parents, Son discovered her passion for woodworking, completed her training, and launched her residential remodeling business, Vee’s Fix-It Service. She aspires to become a custom home builder.
BuildStrong Academy, a Denver-based nonprofit, connects job seekers with the construction industry’s needs. It offers an 80-hour Construction Skills Bootcamp, which lasts five weeks and serves as a prerequisite for advanced courses. Last year, 226 students completed the program, with about 30% being women.
Kristin Davenport, who oversees the boot camp, credits the increase in female enrollment to a growing awareness of the lucrative potential in construction careers.
“We’re seeing more women realize that these jobs not only pay well, but they also offer fulfilling careers,” she said.
The boot camp caters to individuals from various backgrounds, including those with minimal construction experience. It offers opportunities to pursue apprenticeships in trades such as electrical work, HVAC, plumbing, and welding.
Nationally, women comprise approximately 14% of the 7.7 million people employed in the U.S. construction industry.
The construction industry continues to face challenges, with only 13% of construction companies owned by women.
Chris Regis, owner of Domani Development, said even after 33 years building and remodeling homes, she still constantly feels pressure to prove herself.
“You always have to show you know your stuff,” she said. “You have to be strong and confident, or people will walk all over you.
Regis recently completed a custom home build at 1860 E. Cedar Ave. in Denver. She worked hand-in-hand with architect Katrina Eckelhoff, principal of StudioHoff Architecture, and Bree Halax, owner of Halax Interiors, to create the $8.5 million home, featuring six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, built with wire-brushed cedar, local stone, and raw steel accents.
The women, who call themselves the dream team, enjoy working together and said their experience and collaboration skills make executing a complex project like the home on Cedar easier.
“We know each other and trust each other’s opinions,” Halax said.
Hoff said that sometimes, when she designs a home, that’s the end of her role in the project, likening it to sending a child off to college and then never hearing any progress reports.
But working with Regis and Halax is a different experience. “We have a good interactive back and forth to make the project a reality.”
Son hopes that the push to increase the number of women in construction jobs will help alleviate some of the challenges women face.
“Half my (BuildStrong) class was women,” she said. “Hopefully, the stigmas and barriers are being rewritten.”
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.
