This week, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) is celebrating the women who work in the industry. The NAWIC is a network which started in Fort Worth, Texas in 1953 and has since been building awareness for women working in the construction industry. From March 4^th to 10^th, Women in Construction Week will be focusing on the women who work in the construction trades within the United States.

According to OHSA, the number of women employed in the construction industry rose by 81.3% from 1985 to 2007. However, the 2008 recession hit all workers in the construction industry hard. As a result, over 300,000 women left the industry by 2010 to pursue other work.

As of 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that women represented 8.9% of the 9,813,000 people working in the construction industry. Alternatively, women in construction represented about 1.2% of the entire U.S workforce in 2013.

Southwire has developed several initiatives which help develop the future and continued success of women in construction. Most recently, the Thorn Customer Solutions Center offers the Southwire Solutions University. It is an institute which provides all interested subcontractors a facility to get hands-on training on how with SIMpull Solutions® products in different types of jobsites. To learn how to enroll, please contact with the Contractor Solutions team by clicking here.

Southwire has also created a Maintenance Apprenticeship Program and welcomed its first class in January 2017. The two-year program is a joint effort with local technical education institutions to blend industry standards with formal education to train apprentices, specifically train senior millwrights and senior electronic technicians. The inaugural class is made up of 20% females.

To learn more about Southwire's initiatives which support women in construction, please check out southwire.com/sustainability or read throughout southwire.com/newsroom.

©2018 Southwire Company, LLC.  All Rights Reserved