Diversifying to Recruit

By Sheralyn Belyeau

A more diverse workforce opens opportunities, mitigates customer engagement, and brings more recruits to the industry

Fisher Balancing Company has a huge advantage in Wilmington, New Jersey’s competitive sheet metal market. Four out of the ten technicians they have working in the field are women.

“It’s a basic thing, common logical sense,” explains Matt Sano, president of Fisher. “The women can simply access spaces where men can’t go. It’s less of an impediment to us to schedule, because we can move more easily.”

“We work in all the hospitals in the city of Philadelphia, and South Jersey, Central Jersey, and North Jersey,” says Jennifer Lohr, Fisher’s vice president, Local 19 journeyperson, and a member of SMACNA’s Women in Leadership. “It’s easy for us to go into a labor and delivery department or a maternity ward.”

Skilled women simplify projects on university campuses, too, where dorms often have alternating floors for males and females. “How do you work when there are students on campus if you only have males or only females on your team?” she asks, noting diversity keeps completing projects in gendered spaces simple. “We switch back and forth between floors and get the job done quickly.”

Strong female representation also helps Fisher build rapport with customers—for example, female business leaders who may have concerns if she is the only woman in the room.

“There are a lot of women-owned businesses here,” says Local 19 Outreach Coordinator Natasha Scott Lawson, who is on the SMART Women’s Committee. “Their leaders may wonder, is this still a boys’ club? Are you not allowing women in? When they see Jennifer Lohr walk into the meeting, they can relate to her.”

Lawson sees a similar effect when Local 19 meets with politicians. “There are a lot of female politicians, and they always gear their conversation to me,” Lawson says, even when rest of the local representatives are men. “It helps when you have a diverse team in general. Customers don’t want to see one color, one gender. No matter what room you’re walking into, having a diverse team helps with different opinions and different outlooks.”

The many female business owners and leaders in SMACNA demonstrate the strength that women bring to the sheet metal industry. “SMACNA is leading by example, not by do as I say, not as I do,” Sano says.

Fisher has private clients who value diversity so much that they write it into contracts. “They’re dictating that a percentage of our apprentices have to be minority, female, or veteran,” Lohr says. Some urban clients prioritize hiring people from specific zip codes around their facility because they want to improve the economy of the neighborhood. “The thought process is that when local people get into the trade, they’re going to bring money back to the corner store and they’re going to bring money back to the family. Then somebody else in the family or a neighbor is going to see that they’re working for a union.”

Local 19 is at work to fulfill these client requirements. “My business manager laid it out for us,” Lawson says. “Some shops are producing millions and millions of dollars but are located in underprivileged neighborhoods where people don’t know about these opportunities. It’s a part of my job to go out and find these individuals who live close by and are ready to join the sheet metal industry.”

Lawson spends many hours in underserved Philadelphia neighborhoods. “I share our side contractors and production contractors list with these individuals, and I tell them to apply for an apprenticeship,” Lawson says. “But because the process will take a bit, I also say to go to these contractors and apply for a job now because they are always hiring.”

Many individuals come back and thank Lawson for helping them find work. “I didn’t grow up bad or poor, but I also didn’t grow up privileged,” she says. “I fell into an opportunity, and I took advantage of it. I want to share that with other individuals who might not know that they have the opportunity as well.”

Lohr credits some of Lawson’s success to the fact that she’s a woman. “If women see someone that looks like them, they are more likely to approach the table,” she says. “I think younger generations might be less likely to approach and talk to a big man but seeing a woman softens that first step.”

Lawson’s work as a recruiter for Local 19 is the key to future growth. “If you keep fishing in the same pond that you stock yourself, you’re going to get the same fish,” Lohr says. “But if you want to grow, you want something bigger and something better, you’ll go to the ocean. The only way that we’re going to fill the void of the people who are retiring is to cast a wider net.”

In their recent contract negotiations, the Sheet Metal Contractor’s Association in Philadelphia and Local 19 adopted a new tool for identifying good apprentices. “Our contract allowed us to put in language about pre-apprenticeships, which will give us an opportunity to hand pick people and then bring them into the apprenticeship after six months,” Sano says. “This will help with non-traditional roles for people who usually don’t get in.”

Local 19 will work with programs like Helmets to Hard Hat and Women in Nontraditional Careers to funnel people into preapprenticeships. The trial period will be especially helpful for candidates who are older or less athletic. “They may take one or two classes, but they’re going to go to work,” Lawson says. “It’s going to be a test run, not only to see if they like doing the work, but to see if the employer thinks that they’re capable of being in this industry.”

Pre-apprenticeship work gives candidates the ability to test the waters and find out if this is a career path that they really want before they invest three years into JATC classes. “When somebody drops out, we could have been training somebody else that in their heart of hearts, wanted that position,” Lohr says. “This is going to be a better opportunity for us to get the best of the best.” ▪

A Colorado native, Sheralyn Belyeu lives and writes deep in the woods of Alabama. When she’s not writing, she grows organic blueberries and collects misspellings of her name.