National Skills Summit

National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: Construction and Transportation

Women Unlimited and the Maine Department of Transportation:
Connecting Women to Jobs in Construction

The Challenge:

Like other regions of the country, New England is experiencing a construction boom. Maine is no exception and the state needs skilled workers for many fields.

The Solution:

Partner training programs with government agencies to ensure that the government fills its ample job openings with qualified workers.

The Partners:

Women Unlimited is a non-profit trade and technical training organization that prepares women living in Maine for non-traditional jobs.

Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT) has hired a number of graduates of the training program through their partnership with Women Unlimited.

The Story:

After years of adversity, Rose Higgins-Brown, former hairdresser and mother of two, was ready to try something entirely different. Rose was so successful in Women Unlimited's training program at the Kennebec Valley Technical College that the Maine Department of Transportation hired her even before she completed the program. Her new skills include surveying, fluid-power technology, and blueprint reading.

About 18 months after she went to work for the state, a private company recruited Rose and later sponsored additional training for her at Auburn University's Asphalt Institute in Alabama. Today she is the president and owner of Western Maine Paving Company.

Karen Dresser is another of Women Unlimited's success stories. She joined the Women Unlimited training program at Eastern Maine Technical College and was quickly hired at Maine DOT as a temporary engineering aide. She was promoted recently and became a permanent employee. Karen now enjoys a feeling of independence and is confident that she is a good role model for her two daughters. Women Unlimited has hired her on two occasions to instruct other women in materials testing.

Construction companies in Maine are among the employers shouting from the hilltops for new workers and Women Unlimited knows its candidates can fill the jobs. Women are also prepared for other nontraditional jobs, including truck driving, carpentry, basic construction, auto technology, drafting and design, electrical wiring, masonry, and materials testing. Training is both entry-level and advanced.

The fourteen-week program includes certified hands-on skill training, a ropes course, weekly job shadowing, and job readiness training. The Women Unlimited Job Bank connects graduates to more than 80 employers. Last year, 96 percent of graduates - a total of 122 - went on to trade or technical employment, with an average starting wage of $8.70 per hour.

A Model of Innovation:

The partnership with Maine DOT guarantees women exposure to diverse projects like bridge building and highway and mass transit construction projects. Making these non-traditional occupations more accessible to women provides employers with qualified workers while offering women lucrative career paths.

Contacts:

Ann Marie Simone, M.Ed., Executive Director
Women Unlimited
71 Winthrop St.
Augusta, ME 04330
207-623-7576 (p)
207-623-7299 (f)

Jane Gilbert, HR Director
Maine Department of Transportation
State House Station #16
Augusta, ME 04333-0016
207-287-3551 (p)
207-287-2083 (f)

Gary Fitts, NE HR Manager
Cianbro Corporation
Hunnewell Square
Pittsfield, ME 04967
207-487-4237
207-487-3448 (f)

Robin Wood, EEO
Officer Reed & Reed
Woolwich, ME 04579
207-443-9747 (p)
207-443-2792 (f)

Nick Kakasenko, EEO
Officer Crooker & Sons
PO Box 5001
Topsham, ME 04086-5001
207-729-3331 (p)
207-725-4025 (f)

Don Berry, Training Director
IBEW Local 567
238 Goddard Road
Lewiston, ME 04105
800-696-8974 (p)
207-753-6732 (p/f)

Harry Lyons, Training Director
IBEW Local 1253
44 Industrial Drive
Augusta, ME 04330
207-634-3088 (p)
207-634-5354 (f)