NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The UMass Building Authority recognized contractor D.A. Sullivan & Sons, Inc. for their work in having a more diverse staff. The company is helping create a path toward more women working in the typically male-dominated field of construction.
March is Women’s History Month, but something many don’t know is that the first week in March is always Women in Construction Week and that’s exactly what Monday was all about.
In front of the Lederle Graduate Research Center on the campus of UMass Amherst, the UMass Building Authority highlighted D.A. Sullivan & Sons, a Northampton-based construction company, for their performance in creating opportunities for Women in the Construction Industry.
“In a male-dominated field, you rarely see women. You know, like ten years ago you wouldn’t have more than one-percent women working on site, today we have like ten percent, 13 percent, so this is a great accomplishment,” expressed Maggie Drouineaud, the Chief Diversity Officer for Compliance on Capital Projects.
D.A. Sullivan is currently renovating a building with over 14 percent of all hours worked on the project done by women, which is more than double the goal that was set. The goal was 6.9 percent, and as contractors like D.A. Sullivan in collaboration with UMass continue to blow past expectations, the female construction workers who are currently setting the stage for this progress still believe that there’s more headway to make.
“More women should join because it’s possible. It’s not something that is not possible, it is. More young women should join, it could be nice and we can all work altogether, you know,” said Marangeliz Castillo an employee for D.A. Sullivan.
D.A. Sullivan also has the highest completed projected women hours of any campus and any project in the state’s history for the construction of the UMass Biomedical Engineering laboratories.