Page 27 - BusinessWest January 23, 2023

“I found that, as long as I stood up for myself, the dynamic changed, and
the respect was then forthcoming to me on that particular project.”
try, metal fabrication, welding, electrical, automotive, advanced manufacturing, and more.
Lia Oliveira, a pipefitter for Adam’s Plumbing and Heating, told BusinessWest a similar story. “I went to Smith Voc in Northampton for high school. I didn’t want plumbing, but we tried every shop for a day, and then you pick your top four for a week, and plumbing was the one. I was like, ‘I can actually learn something new.’ That’s how I got into it. And then, in my junior year of high school, Adams hired me.”
However, not all the women we spoke with knew that early that they would end up in the construction trades. Jes Thayer started out with an art degree and traveled as an artist before the pandemic dried up opportunities. She decided to fall back on the fact that she was once a mechanic and liked to work with her hands.
“I kind of knew that I wanted to be an
electrician just because of dealing with
cars and the electrical stuff in that, but it was great to get a founda- tion in all of the building trades through Community Works,” she explained. “They are the ones that helped me find Wayne J. Griffin Electrical, who’s been wonderful to me ever since.”
As a current apprentice, Thayer has gained the ability to feel more confident in her role, explaining that she feels more comfort- able in the electrical trade than she did in many automotive shops.
“People tried to take tools right out of my hands, which is a big pet peeve. But here, I think being on the team that I have, they’re giving me the tools, and they’re asking me to show people that are younger than me. It’s about experience and taking leadership oppor- tunities,” she said. “It’s really great to have my company do that, and since I’ve been on the site, we have great morale and have really got each others’ backs.”
Girls from Chicopee Comp were able to attend a trades event to learn more and network.
Women face many challenges when it comes to working in a male-dominated industry — particularly women of color, who say they have faced discrimination in hiring and employment and expe- rience sexual harassment and gender or racial bias on the job.
But with the increasing number of women on job sites, there’s a stronger sense of community when it comes to these issues, espe- cially sexual harassment.
“Whenever I have issues, my boss says, ‘whenever you have an issue, you come straight to me,’ and she handles it from the top all
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