These women make in roads traditionally male field By DAVID TROESTER Standard-Examiner staff They are strong. They are invincible. They are women. And sometimes they roar. They work in construction, a field traditionally dominated by men. Yet when push comes to shove, when bread-baker turns breadwinner, women construction workers are as aggressive and determined as any male counterpart. "This is serious, serious stuff to us," said Kathie Mecham, president and owner of Ms Construction Inc. Bolstered by a fleet of earth-moving equipment, the mother of three is deep in the trenches of construction competition along the Wasatch Front. Mecham's West Haven company has dug, moved, hauled and spread gravel, stone and dirt on jobs from Tremonton to the Point of the Mountain in Salt Lake County. In addition to excavation, Ms Construction handles site utilities. In February, Mecham received her general contractor's license, allowing her company to work all facets of construction from building roads to homes to commercial facilities. Success, however, comes at a price. Mecham eight years ago plunged herself into $250,000 debt to finance equipment purchases. She used $25,000 of her retirement funds from her computer-maintenance job at Hill Air Force Base as 10 percent match on the loan. Monthly premiums approach $11,000. Still, she views it as part of normal operating costs and thinks the company will always carry debt for equipment updates. For others, starting a business requires less capital. Marie Richins, owner of Elite Staffing Inc., a Clearfield temporary employee provider to the construction industry, spent $2,500 for used office equipment and opened her doors. The former welfare-dependent mother tries to place disadvantaged women in jobs. Elite recently was designated as a Disadvantaged Business Entity (DBE). The designation typically allows women and minority owned companies greater access to winning federal road construction contracts. And while some, like Mecham, say DBE is a "farce," others admit it can help. "We're a woman-owned, minority business," said Becky Candia, owner and manager of Becky's Flaggers Unlimited Inc. in Ogden. At first, she was skeptical that DBE would aid her company, but as business grew, the designation was required more often, she said. As much as $130 million in federal road contracts will be let in Utah this year. Slightly more than $10 million will go to DBEs. There are 86 construction companies on the Utah DBE list and nearly half are women-owned businesses. A roadside flagger after she graduated high school, Candia started Becky's Flaggers in 1996 when she realized advancement at her office job was virtually impossible. She siphoned money from her 401k to open the business. "It was a decision that was like starting your whole life over," she said. Candia employs mostly women. They work as flaggers on roadway job sites. The company also coordinates through the Your Community Connection Bridge program to help disadvantaged women obtain work and become self-sufficient. Candia says she pays flaggers $9 an hour to start. She met some resistance from male contractors at first, but quickly overcame it. "I think your presentation on the job, how you show up, determines how they treat you," she said. Although the proverbial glass ceiling can remain a barrier for women in construction across the nation, the so called weaker sex is opening windows and doors that bypass it. "Women are taking the bulls by the horn," said Glen-da Thompson, director of marketing and public relations with the National Association of Women in Con-struction, based in Ft. Worth, Texas. The largest growth of women-owned companies is in the construction sector, she said. And that trend is expected to intensify. "In lieu of dramatic shortages of skilled workers in the construction industry, women are definitely an untapped resource," Thompson said. While "good 'ol boy" networks have long held sway in the business world, local women who own construction companies say they hope to form a "good 'ol gals" network through bidding and cooperation on jobs of mutual interest. "We enhance each other," said Marta Nimori, owner of Associated Barricade Corp. in Marriott-Slaterville. "Women are working together more," said Bobbie Krambule, who started Little K. Inc. a few months ago in Marriott-Slaterville. The company raises and lowers road utilities such as manholes. But if the gals work better together and eventually network on jobs, they won't exclude their male counterparts, they say. "If a woman's qualified for a truck driving position, she ought to be considered over a man who is not qualified," said Vicky Bindrup, purchasing agent for Staker and Parson Companies. "If she's not qualified, then, of course, she shouldn't be." The West Haven company employs about 2,000. About 45 percent are women, Bindrup said. Oddly, Staker and Parson is not women-owned. June 23, 2002 (Cont'd)