Career Path
Wells Fargo Awards Grant to OTI
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is pleased to announce a $2,500 grant awarded by Wells Fargo for our Pathways to Success program.
With a focus on apprenticeship, the Pathways to Success program offers the Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class (TACC). It is a 7-week, pre-apprenticeship training class that helps women prepare for a high skill, high wage career in construction.
Upon graduation, OTI career counselors assist TACC graduates with their job search and application to apprenticeship training programs. OTI career counselors also provide individualized employment counseling throughout the entire course of the graduate’s trades career.
Learn more about our TAC Class or sign up for an information session about the class, the first step to enrollment in the program.
OTI thanks Wells Fargo for its support of our program!
Thank you, Bank of America!
Women in Metals and Manufacturing
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has named Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) as a 2015 Neighborhood Builder! OTI is being recognized for our efforts in workforce development. The Neighborhood Builders is currently marking its 11th year as the largest investment in nonprofit leadership development and organizational longevity. Locally, through Neighborhood Builders, Bank of America has invested $3.8 million and supported 38 emerging leaders at 19 Portland-area nonprofit organizations.
With the help of this funding from Bank of America, OTI will add a manufacturing workforce development program to help women and girls learn about, prepare for, and enter manufacturing careers. The program will build upon our successful pre-apprenticeship program that prepares 80 women a year for industry careers and educates more than 1,200 girls annually about their future opportunities in the trades. OTI will work with a variety of manufacturing industry partners to adopt or create a manufacturing-focused curriculum to prepare women for successful manufacturing careers.
Two-thirds of the manufacturing sector’s jobs require less than an associate’s degree. Jobs such as welder, machinist, millwright, computer-controlled machine operator, inspector, production and warehouse worker are all projected to have a high number of openings in the next few years. In fact, the manufacturing industry in the Portland metro area alone boasts more than 87,000 jobs with a payroll close to $7 million.
Guest Blog: Jen Netherwood
Here at Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., we are thrilled to welcome Jen Netherwood as a guest blogger! Not only is Jen one of our Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class grads but she is also an instructor for current OTI classes, actively involved as a volunteer, and tirelessly works for access for women in the trades. We are happy to announce that Jen is the January winner of Irwin Tools’ “Nominate A Tradesman” competition.
Over the past couple of months, tradeswomen across the nation have been advocating for Irwin to change their logo and the title of their competition. We think tradeswomen should be recognized for all of their contributions to the community as well! Join us, and nominate your own tradeswomen today.
In the meantime, lets turn it over to Jen to hear more about her amazing story and the work she is doing for women at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.
For women that enter the trades, becoming a Tradeswomen has meaning far beyond the tools and skills. From simply walking onto a job-site where we are 1 of 100 workers, to standing up for our rights in court, whether we set out to do it or not, we are breaking down stereotypes and changing the face of construction. I set out to do it, to change how society defines a construction worker. I have spent my entire life in male dominated professions. First in sports, now as a Journey level carpenter, I have looked for ways I could contribute to breaking down old stereotypes.
I completed the OTI TAC Class in 2005 and went on to complete the apprenticeship program at the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute as one of about 4 women. It made a huge difference to me knowing that although I was in the minority, women had gone before me and at least put some gravel down on the path! I stayed involved with OTI and eventually began teaching for TAC and Building Girls. Although I really didn’t know what my path was going to be, it was clear to me that the heart of my passion for carpentry was in my desire to play a role in inspiring other women to become Tradeswomen.
In the summer of 2012 that path opened up. OTI recommended me for a position teaching a new pre-apprenticeship program at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the only women’s prison in Oregon. I had never so much as been inside a jail and what followed was life changing for me.
With about 12 hours of training, a radio, and the knowledge that I wasn’t a really good hostage candidate, I started the program with 22 women, skill saws, hammers and utility knifes. What I observed was a group of motivated women who were willing to challenge themselves and each other to do something they had never thought they could (a couple women even said they really didn’t believe women could go into the trades).
From October 2012 to August 2013 40 women completed the BOLI certified pre-apprenticeship program at Coffee Creek. The most amazing thing I saw happen was the sense of pride that grew within so many of the women. They began to see that they could lift 3/4″ plywood, handle a circular saw, roof a house, and install Sheetrock. They started to tell me about conversations they had with their kids, how impressed their kids were that their moms knew how to build a saw horse and use a table saw.
One woman told me that her mom sent her an article about how she was one of the first female low voltage electricians for Pac Bell. This inmate had not spoken to her mom in years and they connected through her participation in the pre-apprenticeship class. Now that inmate is a material handler for IBEW and completing the steps to becoming an apprentice.
Another woman told me her 17 year old son was so inspired by her that he decided to enter the carpenters’ job core program. She was able to send him the tool belt she earned at Coffee Creek to get him started. She has worked with the courts while she’s still at Coffee Creek to develop a payment plan to get her driver’s license back when she paroles so she can pursue a career as an Ironworker.
Through experiences with inmates like these my grey area for what I thought I thought about incarcerated adults, our legal system, and our prison system grew exponentially in the 13 months I was employed.
One of the most profound conversations I had with the women went like this:
Inmate: Ms. Netherwood you treat us different.
Me: What do you mean?
Inmate: You treat us like human beings.
Me: Well aren’t you?
Unfortunately the company that I worked for decided to cancel the program in August of 2013, despite its impact on the women and clear potential for a path to family wage jobs. In 2014, 75 women who graduated from Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. averaged a starting wage of $15.18 per hour. Another 13 graduates moved from their first job to apprenticeship, raising their average to $19.02 per hour.
I have been working with Portland Community College Corrections Education since August of 2013 to build a brand new pre-apprenticeship program for Coffee Creek because I whole heartily believe that access to the skills and knowledge about how to become a Tradeswomen and earn a family living wage will be life changing for the women who complete the program.
The Department of Corrections and Portland Community College will negotiate that contract this month, March 2015. I encourage you to contact your Representatives and Senators to tell them the positive impact that access to pre-apprenticeship training for women is having. More specifically, you can have an even greater impact if you write to the Public Safety Subcommittee of Ways and Means (the budget committee for the Department of Corrections).
How to Write a Letter to your Legislators
For the incarcerated women at Coffee Creek, a construction trades pre-apprenticeship program can set them on a path to a family wage career, increased self-esteem, a positive contribution to society, a tangible connection to their family, and a chance to break the cycle of incarceration. Whether we set out to do it or not, whether we simply show up and work hard or we go before the Oregon legislature and speak up about how things need to change, we really are changing the world. Or, at the very least, how Oregon defines a Tradeswoman.
For Tradeswomen past, present, and future, never underestimate your impact!
Worker to Leader: Construction Leadership
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is very grateful to the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for supporting activities that increase the retention of diverse women and men of color in the trades. We are excited to offer a course of five 2-hour workshops to introduce tradesworkers to construction related leadership development. Attendees will commit to attending all 5 classes and can expect to be introduced to concepts like project management and becoming a foreman. We know this will be a great opportunity to develop relationships for diverse, experienced tradesworkers to start on their pathway to leadership
Deadline: March 20
Classes will be held Monday evenings from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm in the Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. classroom at 3934 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., #101 (in the basement). The dates will be:
- March 23
- March 30
- April 6
- April 13
- April 20
Topics include: Leadership Panel, Basics of Blue Prints, Stepping up to Foreman, Project Management Basics, and Introduction to Project Scheduling.
We have limited slots available for these workshops. If you are interested please call or email Tiffany Thompson. She will need to know a few things to process your application:
- First and Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Trade
- A short, one paragraph statement about your interest in the courses and what you hope to get out of them
- Gender (optional)
- Race (optional)
Applicants should be diverse women and men of color who are:
- In their last term of apprenticeship OR
- Who have completed highway trades apprenticeship in the last 2 – 5 years OR
- Who can provide a reference from a company, union, or apprenticeship
This May in Los Angeles: Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute
Attention pre-apprenticeship program trainers and professionals!
With growing national focus on and funding for apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship training programs will become an increasingly important first step in the construction careers ladder. The 2nd Annual Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute will provide an opportunity for pre-apprenticeship practitioners to network with their peers from around the country and learn from a variety of experienced trainers.
Join your colleagues and peers to discuss the opportunities, challenges, and best practices for creating pre-apprenticeship programs that help all members of your community enter and benefit from apprenticeship and skilled construction trades occupations.
The Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute is hosted by the State Construction and Building Trades Council of California, and planned by pre-apprenticeship program staff and policy experts from around the nation. It will take place one day prior to the Women Building the Nation conference, which pre-apprenticeship institute attendees are also encouraged to attend.
Professionals encouraged to attend include:
- Apprenticeship Training Directors and Coordinators
- Pre-Apprenticeship Program Managers and Frontline Staff (Instructors, Outreach Coordinators, Case Mangers and Job Developers)
- National Workforce Development Agencies
- Tradeswomen Volunteers and Mentors. (Note: The Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute is designed for practitioners, NOT for pre-apprenticeship students.)
Attendees can register for either or both events here. The Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute registration page is here.
Wire a Light Workshop – An Introduction to the Electrical Trade
Wire a Light Workshop – An Introduction to the Electrical Trade
Monday, February 23, 2015
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Register by calling Abby at 503.335.8200 x 33
Location:
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.
3934 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., #101,
Portland Oregon 97212
WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN:
Electricians enjoy satisfying careers and earn up to $40 per hour at the end on-free apprenticeship. Come learn how to wire a circuit, meet electricians from the industry, and find out how you can apply for this opportunity.
An Update from OTI Graduate Chevy Nash…
We were thrilled to hear from OTI TACC Graduate Chevy Nash and learn about how her career is progressing. She recently sent this inspiring note:
“I am now the operations manager at Alpha Energy Savers, a weatherization company. It’s a small company and I’m working in the office and able to make the job whatever I may want to make out of it for now and the future. I met Carter Stafford – he was working at Alpha the night you sent me to the Home Performance Guild meeting to track down Kelly Haines! He remembered me and called me when he knew he was moving on to Conservation Services Group (CSG) and hired me to take over.
I have been thrown in and am trying to get the gist of it all, but I love everything l I get to learn! Kelly at Clean Energy Works (CEW) has agreed to pay for my Building Performance Institute (BPI) certification license, and I can put that certification to use doing home energy auditing for my current company and I’ll also have on the job training with an in house BPI certified supervisor and be getting paid all along the way!
My company works with Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington County to make low income homes more energy efficient, we are working with TriMet to use weatherization as noise mitigation for houses near the new Max line running through Milwaukie, and of course we work with regular everyday folks looking to improve their homes efficiency.
Frankly it’s kind of the best situation as I’m learning terminology, how each of the programs work, going to training meetings & contractors meetings, and asking a ton of questions. It will get me even more ready for the next step and I get paid a decent wage along the way.
Anyway I wanted to give you a heads up. Now that I have more than two nickels to rub together I’ve sent my first donation check into Oregon Tradeswomen as you guys are a big reason why I got a leg up.
Wanted you to know and to thank you for helping me along the way…having me go to that Home Performance Guild meeting was HUGE!”
Jodi Guetzloe Parker: Oregon’s First Female Building Trades Council Head
It’d be impossible to talk about female leaders in the NW construction trades without mentioning Jodi Guetzloe Parker. As the second woman to ever lead a building trades council in the United States (she was elected executive secretary treasurer of the 25-craft Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council in 2012), Guetzloe Parker has become somewhat of a role model for women, even beyond state lines.
But though she’s now spent over two decades in the trades – initially as a Cement Mason, then a rank-and-file member, elected official, and staffer at the Laborers Union Local 320 — the mother of one, stepmother of three, and grandmother of four came to the trades for the same reason many do: she couldn’t afford not to.
The self-deprecating Guetzloe Parker says the catalyst was losing her wallet, and with it, a bonus she’d received from her minimum wage job with a clothing company many years ago. “My friend [a Cement Mason] said, if that small amount of money is so impactful in your life, you need to join our apprenticeship program,” Guetzloe Parker says.
She couldn’t argue. She’d been working since she was 15, when she slung hamburgers at a carhop at a drive-in café (unless you count sweeping the floor for lunch money at six years old in her neighbor’s garage) – and at times still depended on social services to raise her kid.
“Thank God for public assistance because that carried us through,” Guetzloe Parker remembers. The subsidies were put to good use. “I’m a good investment! I’ve paid a lot of taxes and donate a lot of money. Social programs are so necessary, and have a good return.”
Guetzloe Parker grew up in Kamiah, Idaho, having her daughter when she was 20 years old and moving to Vancouver, Washington when she was 21. There she started cleaning hotel rooms, worked at Hi-School Pharmacy, a baby clothes company, and finally became a member of the Cement Masons at 32 years old.
Something clicked. “I was able to be outside, go to work, get dirty, and not worry about if my shirt was pressed for my $8/hour job,” Guetzloe Parker tells us. Finally, the single mom was on track to being able to independently support her family.
Her rise involved a fair amount of self discipline. “One of the things that make me who I am is being sober for 25 years,” says the building trades leader. “I have to do things to maintain that sobriety, but it’s part of what makes me a better leader.”
Unfortunately, a back injury derailed her career for one “horrible” year – at one point she was told she’d never be able to lift anything over five pounds again. Against the expectations of some of her doctors she returned, becoming a secondary list traffic flagger, then traffic control supervisor for Stacy and Whitbeck. She moved through various jobs with the Laborers – punch list foreman, quality control inspector — before running for an auditor’s office at the union. From there, she was hired at a staff position, eventually leading to last year’s election as the head of the building trades council.
What’s it like to be a female leader in the trades? “It’s tough,” Guetzloe Parker says. “And I’ve always been tough on myself. But you have to always give 110 percent, and I listen. I think I’m pretty good at letting people talk – I want to listen to them.”
Because, as she’s quick to point out, no one succeeds entirely on their own. “Bill Bruce [Stacy and Witbeck’s Interstate Light Rail superintendent] was my mentor,” Guetzloe Parker says. “He took me from a flagger to traffic control supervisor and to punch list foreman. He believed in me when I did not believe in myself. He told me, “You grow, or you go.” She grew.
When it comes to advice for the next generation of women in the trades, Guetzloe Parker begins, “Take a deep breathe. Carry on. We have resources everywhere. Develop friendships with men and women. Lean into them. “
Which is not to say, go soft. “And never let somebody take your tools away,” Guetzloe Parker concludes, with a smile.
Lisa Ostrom: “The girl” becomes the foreman
Back when Lisa Ostrom was growing up in Clark County, Washington, there were no opportunities for the young tomboy to play sports. But there was woodshop. Ostrom took four years of woodworking classes in high school. Small wonder that now she’s a foreman on Hoffman Construction’s Intel project in Beaverton.
Or at least, she was. And she will be again – but for the moment, the 53 year old is dealing with another challenge: ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed this year with stage three tumors after noticing some irregular stomach bloat, and has been plowing through rounds of chemotherapy while she waits to be deemed able to get back on the job.
“I get bored easy at home,” Ostrom tells us, once again outfitted in her hard hat and safety vest on the day that she is interviewed by Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.
It’s clear that Ostrom’s workmates miss her as much as she misses them. An endless parade of peers come up to give her hugs, ask her about her wellbeing – nothing too technical, just enough to show to even the casual observer that she’s an integral part of the Hoffman team.
But there was a time when a woman working on a building trades site was not that common of a sight. After working at a teen clothing store, doing inventory and purchasing for a bearings company, furniture store, and Custom Aluminum, Ostrom got a job flagging on the Delta Interchange. Her employer, Kiewit, liked her and suggested that she join the Laborers.
“I would have liked to join the Operators,” Ostrom remembers. “But that takes confidence – back then I didn’t have any.” After working with the Laborers for a spell, she joined the Carpenters, never looking back after working on the Bonneville Locks for nine months, and a number of bridges and water treatment plants shortly thereafter.
Back in those days, it was rare to see woman on the job. “I was known as ‘the girl’ for a while, because there wasn’t very many girls at that time,” Ostrom says. But she took it upon herself to find team equilibrium, studying the way her coworkers did their jobs – right down to what they wore. “I just tried to dress like they did,” says Ostrom. “Sweatshirt, Levi’s, I didn’t try to wear makeup.”
At 37 years old, she started working for Hoffman. There, she became a foreman, overseeing the work of others. At first, she tells us, she played it stern. “Some of the guys around here may remember me from back then,” she laughs. But after awhile, the job – and developments in her personal life – taught her that oftentimes success comes with softening up a little.
“You get the job done faster if you can all communicate,” Ostrom reflects. “You have to know when to diffuse certain situations.” She says the company places a premium on positive feedback and supervisors who can keep their cool in high pressure situations.
After our interview, she tells us she’s off to speak with her supervisor about coming back to her job in a way that will mesh with her ongoing chemo sessions.
She drums her neatly manicured nails on the table when we ask her what her advice is for women entering the trades – she’s worked at Oregon Tradeswoman, Inc.’s annual Women in Trades Career Fair for a number of years, so it’s a question that she’s used to answering.
“You gotta listen and learn,” she says. Make sure you really think hard about the profession you’re choosing. “As long as you’re willing to do that, the guys are willing to help you.”
Ostrom should know a thing or two about conquering difficult situations – the responsibility she’s entrusted with on the job serves as proof she’s mastered the skills of her trade. And the challenge of going into a field where women were once rarities can’t be as all consuming as Ostrom’s experiences with chemotherapy – but perhaps the rules have some similarities.
Says the sunny, tough tradeswoman: “The first time you feel like giving up, you feel so sore. But then you go in again, and you see everyone is going through the same thing.”
“I think the trades have made me more outgoing,” she reflects. “I think they can really bring out the best in you.”
Tyrone Belgarde: One Determined Construction Estimator
It’s hard to believe that at one point Tyrone Belgarde had an attitude problem. Nowadays, the Oregonian is a valued, longtime member of the team at Knife River’s Tangent, Oregon offices. The 39 year old has been with the company for nearly 20 years, and has risen from an entry-level Laborer position on the grading crew to his current position as Construction and Estimation Manager.
“He’s one of the nicest guys,” his coworker says to us admiringly when we visit to talk to Belgarde about becoming a building trades leader.
Maybe he always was the helpful man we see during our interview, but circumstances were such that in his early days as a worker, Belgarde was a bit difficult to keep employed. His parents divorced when he was five years old, leaving his dad to deal with his addiction problems apart from the family. Belgarde and his mom and siblings moved around a lot. He went to boot camp before his senior year of high school, and graduated from South Albany High School by the skin of his teeth before returning to boot camp for his second stint. He enrolled and dropped out of Linn-Benton Community College at age 18. “I didn’t have enough money, was too immature to go to college,” he says.
Shortly thereafter he found work at an underground utility company in Salem. “It was not good,” he said. “I was a jerk and got fired – I deserved to get fired!”
Belgarde says he’s not sure what caused his transformation into responsible worker, but it happened sometime during his years at Knife River (originally Morse Brothers when he was first hired).
“It was quite a culture shock,” he says of the professional pace of jobs there. But he found his rhythm, landing a spot as an apprentice in the paving crew. “They said ‘if you want us to invest in you, to teach you how to pave, this is your opportunity.”
So he dug in, moving from Paving Crew Laborer to Roller Operator, to Screed and Paving Operator, to Paving Foreman, working jobs from Portland to Eugene. By the time he was 29, he had two daughters and a son. He now teaches occasional classes for Grand Ronde and Siletz Native Americans through the Northwest College of Construction. He honors his father’s heritage by participating in tribal events, sending his kids to culture camp to learn about being Native.
But still: “When I talk about things like vision – I don’t have a long term vision. When people talk about your five year goal – well I have a goal to get through today.”
That attention to the task at hand, perhaps, is part of what makes him a good leader. “Identifying a problem, figuring out your options, and acting,” Belgarde says, is his general way of moving through work. He places a high value on teaching, as a leader in his workplace.
And when he sees a position he wanted, he goes for it whole-hog. Take estimation work – Belgarde showed up to observe Knife River estimators for free during part of a winter, absorbing the information with such commitment that management took him on, first at minimum wage, then as a full-fledged member of the team. Now he’s a manager who is working on a $10 million Newport airport project, the only worker in his part of the office without a college degree.
He says that working in the trades has made it possible to provide for his family, and it’s satisfying to boot. “I can’t drive anywhere without seeing a driveway or a parking lot that we’ve built. You remember all the funny stuff from that site, like the person who spilled oil all over the place,” he laughs.
When he’s asked about advice for beginning building trades folks, Belgarde is hardly at a loss. “Always move forward. Always ask questions about what you need to work on. Don’t expect others to do it for you.”