Nearly 80 Philadelphia-area middle and high school female students completed two free summer camps immersing them in construction trade skill development.
Organized by the nonprofit foundation of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) chapter in Philadelphia, the six-week day camp called Mentoring Young Women in Construction, offered the students hands-on experience, skills training and career guidance in construction.
This year, the program that is run in partnership with industry firms such as NEST, a national facilities management company in Sewell, N.J., expanded to include a second Philadelphia location.
Through the program, ongoing for 15 years, "we’re cultivating the next wave of female leaders in America by immersing them in the construction and skilled trades fields,” said Mary Gaffney, who founded the camp along with Maura Hedson, the general manager of Shoemaker Construction.
Gaffney, who is also president of the NAWIC Philadelphia Foundation, added, “Women currently represent less than 10% of the construction workforce, but the sector is ripe with opportunities for fulfilling careers. By the camp’s conclusion, participants notably display increased self-confidence and a stronger sense of their potential.”
The construction industry needs to hire an additional 500,000 workers in 2024 alone to meet labor demands, the Associated Builders and Contractors says. The Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin is hosting a similar camp in Madison, Wis. for the second year.
Jess Cooper, 16, who lives with her working mother in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney, graduated from the Philadelphia program at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 Training Center on Aug. 8,
“Throughout my life, I always liked to work with my hands; I like to be active and athletic,” she says.
One of her favorite experiences was learning to wire lights and replace outlets at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) training center, Cooper says, working with an electrician instructor and apprentices. She says she has always wanted to be an electrician but now has more training and valuable career connections.
“I got to network with the apprentices and the director,” she says.
On Aug. 1, the campers spent a day at Citizen’s Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies major league baseball team, as part of the Skilled Trades All-Star Program presented by the Phillies and NEST. While touring the facility, they learned about stadium operations—including HVAC, groundskeeping, carpentry, electrical service and maintenance—from the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters, which services the ballpark.
Supporting the camp "is a cornerstone of NEST’s commitment to fostering diversity in construction and skilled trades,” Rob Almond, firm CEO, said in a press release. “Our aim is to show these talented young women the opportunities available and inspire them as future leaders in these fields. We want to elevate the skilled trades as high-paying, honorable and often heroic career paths that require a rejuvenated workforce.”
NEST helped establish the Skilled Trades Advisory Council in 2023, which linked industry experts nationwide to promote skilled trades as ”viable and rewarding career choices,” he added.
