TWIN PORTS-IRON RANGE CHAPTER

By Abigail Blonigen

TheTwin Ports-Iron Range region is now home to a local chapter of The National Association of Women in Construction.

NAWIC was founded in 1953 to support the advancement of women in the industry and provide networking opportunities. There are 115 chapters nationwide and 18 in the Midwest, according to NAWIC Midwest Region Director Raven Hoffman.

The seed for the Twin Ports-Iron Range chapter was planted at a conference in Minneapolis in 2018.

“We had some speakers come down from (the Northeastern Minnesota) area, and we were talking to them and realized how much construction is going on there and looked at each other and said, ‘Why is NAWIC not there?’” Hoffman said.

The other Minnesota chapters — Fargo-Moorhead, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota — banded together to help sponsor the Twin PortsIron Range chapter and lay the groundwork for its launch. Hoffman took on an advisory role, providing resources and information from the association when needed.

After extensive community outreach, the Twin Ports-Iron Range chapter reached its minimum of 25 members

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Duluth-Superior area and four from the Iron Range.

“I was so overwhelmed by the warmth and support we had from the construction industry up in the Twin Ports-Iron Range area,” Hoffman said. “We are really excited to be up there, and we know it's going to be a very successful chapter because of all the community support.”

As the local chapter’s first president, Hedenberg is tasked with figuring out their identity and priorities as an organization. With women still representing a small percentage of the construction industry, members identified networking as the top initiative to pursue.

Twin Ports-Iron Range Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction held their chartering event on October 28, 2021.

“It's really nice to be able to call someone who’s a woman in construction to bounce things off of and hear their stories and get to know because it's all about empowerment and standing alongside everybody else,” Hedenberg said.

She has been in the construction industry for eight years. Her father was a general contractor, so she grew up around construction, but it was rare to see women represented in the field.

After her father passed away, Hedenberg did some reflection and decided she wanted to get into construction. She left her previous career in office administration and human resources to pursue new opportunities, and has found her fit with project administration.

Another founding member, Becca Bolhman, has been in the construction industry for five years, working as an office administrator at Kraus-Anderson.

“For so many years now the image of construction and careers in construction have been predominantly seen as a male industry,” Bohlman said. “Even here in our communities of the Twin Ports and Iron Range, you do not hear a lot about women in the industry. With the newly formed NAWIC chapter, I am hopeful we can change that.”

NAWIC is open to all women employed in the construction industry. This includes contractors, tradespeople, suppliers,

Continued on page 26 architects, lawyers and more, according to their website. There are five levels of membership: active, corporate, associate, student and retired. Active members are individuals who work an average of at least 20 hours per week per month in the industry. Corporate memberships allow businesses to have a representative from their company serve as a member and can be transferred at any time. Both active and corporate members can vote and hold office within the organization. Associate memberships are for those who do not qualify as an active or corporate member, but still want to be affiliated with NAWIC and its resources. Student and retired memberships are nonvoting roles that allow women to stay involved in the industry both before and after their official careers.

“Having a local chapter may encourage more females to step towards the many construction related career pathways,” Bohlman said. “It will also provide more opportunities for women to connect with others in the industry, not only locally but nationwide.”

Connecting with schools and providing mentorship for young women will be a priority for Chapter 329, Hedenberg said.

“We hope to empower women to get a little bit out of their comfort zone,” she said. “It's also a great-paying job with a great community to be a part of.”

Hoffman experienced this empowerment and community firsthand.

“When I came into NAWIC, I planned on just networking. I never planned on being in a leadership role. I never saw myself as a leader, but through the opportunities in the chapter I was able to see myself in a different light. I was able to develop some leadership skills and practice them in a place where everyone was supportive,” she said. “What I truly love about NAWIC is it is women lifting up other women. We support each other and we want to see each other succeed.”

Those interested in learning more about the Twin Ports-Iron Range chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction can visit their website at nawic329.org or email nawic. tp.ir.392@gmail.com. D