ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Not only is it Women’s History Month, but it's also Women in Construction Week.
The construction industry may only be 14% women, but that doesn’t discourage Taylor Stolt, Meredith Virgile or Valerie St. Martin with TomCo Solutions. They say the field has been a blueprint to success.
“For me, I feel it’s worth all the work and it’s something that a lot of younger women, if they get into it, can be really happy doing,” said St. Martin.
St. Martin has been in the industry for 13 years. She is eager to share her positive experiences.
“We’re going out, we are interacting with people in our community, and we are teaching people, younger women, to pursue careers in construction,” said St. Martin.
Design Consultant Taylor Stolt said trading in her cubicle for a hard hat was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.
“Women are more part of the field now than ever. It's super inspiring to see the women and it makes me want to be better in the field,” said Stolt.
Virgile has two daughters at home looking up to her. She’s proud to tell them that mom helps to build and restore homes. She said women’s history is definitely still being written when it comes to construction.
“There are now different events that are being held so we can all get together and kind of collaborate,” said Virgile.
“I’m seeing a lot of women taking more and more DIY projects at home and I think that’s starting to influence the younger generation,” said St. Martin.
Tommy Whitehead, owner of TomCo Solutions, said he appreciates the different perspectives brought to the table when you have a diverse staff. Out of his nine-person staff, three are women.
“More than 50% of the population is female, so why are we not soliciting that opinion for design, for layout, for functionality?” said Whitehead. “And another fun fact, about 40% of the construction work force is retiring in the next six years and we don’t have enough people to replace them so we have to make more inclusive environments for everybody, especially women.”
These female leaders of the industry said Women in Construction Week needs to be celebrated and recognized because they aren’t just building homes, they are building the future.
“I think just by going out to different events, and they see that it’s not just a male-dominated field. You put yourself out there and they see that, 'Hey, they’re doing this. I can do that too,'" said Virgile.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
