2023’s Women in Construction Week theme is ‘Many Paths, One Mission.’ It recognizes and amplifies the different journeys that women have taken towards the same goal: strengthening and amplifying women’s leadership in construction.
To honor that goal, our team met with a woman who has taken leaps in the industry: Janet Marriage, a Regional Safety Manager at Garney Construction in the Western Region who is responsible for keeping employee-owners safe.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself – your background, your role.
I graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management in 1997. I currently serve on CSU’s professional advisory board and teach a few Safety courses.
I started out with Western Summit Constructors in 1997. I was a Field Engineer in Atlanta, Georgia, the lone female Field Engineer among seven men on my team. We were working on the largest project in Western Summit’s history. It was about an $80 million job, which was a large project for the time. While on that project, I was doing field engineering and a little bit of safety. That’s when I fell in love with safety and continued on the path to becoming a project safety manager on various job sites. Throughout my career, I was able to travel and live in various locations, but my favorite so far has been Lubbock, Texas. There are some great people in that city!!
I’ve been with Garney Construction since 2013; our corporate office is in Kansas City, MO. I am currently a Regional Safety Manager and spend 100 percent of my time in the field. As a Regional Safety Manager, my duties include safety audits and training the Employee Owners on topics such as – Fall Protection, Confined Space, Silica Awareness, Excavation/Trenching, etc. Planning safety for upcoming jobs and implementing new OSHA standards. Safety is definitely an important role on a job site.
Q: What brought you into the construction industry?
I loved playing with Legos and Lincoln Logs when I was younger. I wonder if Lincoln Logs even exist anymore! I enjoy seeing a project from the beginning to the end, so I’ve always loved building things. From a construction aspect, I work with big machines, cranes, excavators, front-end loaders, and a lot of big machinery out here. And it’s a cool thing to still feel like a kid sometimes when I’m out here.
Overall, the construction industry is a good industry to be in for a woman.
Q: How did you get to where you are now?
The biggest thing is you must have confidence. In this industry, you need a backbone. I’ve never been disrespected in my career, so just be confident in yourself!
Sometimes I run into someone who feels that women need to be in the office and don’t belong in the field. However, a majority of the gentlemen I work with are very open-minded, have open arms, and help me if I need something. So, the industry has definitely come a long way.
Q: You briefly touched on your current involvement with CSU. What’s the ratio between men and women in the safety classes that you lead?
That number has increased. When I graduated from CSU in ’97, there was a total of 62 graduating in the class; of those people, there were five women. It’s grown a bit more, but it’s still very low. In a ratio of a class of 20, there are only one to two women.
At Garney, I’m still pretty much the lone woman in the field. We have hired some Female project engineers and field engineers. I have about ten more years until I retire, and I still have not seen one woman Superintendent in my career. I’m waiting for that, and I hope it happens before I retire because only about 9% of women currently make up the construction industry.
Q: What is the current landscape for women in the construction industry?
When I went to high school, I didn’t know anything about construction management. It was all about engineering. The high school system does a great job of promoting engineering for women, but they need to work more on promoting construction trades. In construction, there are some amazing trades that women can get into, from electrical to welding to HVAC; and the earning potential is amazing.
At Garney, as an example, new recruits will typically come from a construction management or engineering background and start in the Project or Field Engineer role. After that, they can either go into field roles such as a Superintendent or office roles like an Assistant Project Manager, then a Project Manager and eventually a Senior PM. Here in the Western Region at Garney, we don’t have any women Senior PMs yet. But give it a couple of years, and we’ll have that.
I used to do my weekly audits or daily audits on paper. Now I use an iPad. I don’t have to take my cell phone and transfer it over. I take pictures with my iPad, write notes, and send the report out in the field. And now, with our younger generation, the phone is how they communicate.
All of this does help recruit some of the younger generations of women, especially because they’re very tech-savvy, which can be a positive thing for us.
Q: A recent survey shows digital transformation is a priority at 71% of construction companies – Do you believe this opens more opportunities for women?
I used to do my daily and weekly audits on paper. Now I use an iPad. I don’t have to take my cell phone and transfer it over. I take pictures with my iPad, write notes, and send reports when I am out in the field. And now, with our younger generation, the phone is how they communicate.
All of this does help recruit some of the younger generations of women, especially because they’re very tech-savvy, which can be a positive thing for us.
Q: What is your input on today’s current labor shortage, and could women positively impact these numbers that we’re experiencing today?
It’s not just in construction; you see it everywhere you go. Restaurants are short-staffed, grocery stores, everyone’s short-staffed. That’s the sign of the times we are in right now. There are many opportunities for women, from being a laborer to a carpenter to the field and/or project engineer role – women can be just as strong as the men out there.
Q: Are there other ways to bolster more women in the construction industry?
A prime thing for women would be to connect them with a mentor. For instance, we at Garney have a mentoring program called the Safe Start to Ownership Program., It’s a 180-day program where we team a new recruit up with somebody that has been with the company for a while., They work together side by side, so the recruit has a person to go to, to ask questions, and get a better understanding of their role and of the company. Garney is hiring more women. I see it. We just have to make sure that women have the support they need.
Q: Do you have any advice for women in the construction industry?
The biggest thing is to be confident. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. I still ask questions to this day, and I’ve been doing this for over 25 years., Because technology is ever-changing and changing the specific ways we do things in construction, I still ask questions about how to do things, how things are built, and how things are put together.
Q: Where would you like to see the industry be in ten years when you retire?
Well, I want to see a woman as a superintendent; I would be very happy to see that. And it’s going to happen. Ten years seems like a short time. But with the way recruiting is going nowadays, with construction exposure getting out there for women, I truly believe that we will see a woman superintendent in the next ten years.
About Janet Marriage
Janet Marriage has Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management where she graduated from Colorado State University in 1997.
She spent 16 years with Western Summit Constructors (now Kiewit Constructors), gaining experience in field engineering and safety while working on large projects across various states. Since 2013, Janet has worked for Garney Construction, an employee-owned company, as a Regional Safety Manager. She remains involved with CSU by teaching safety classes and serving on the Professional Advisory Board. Her journey with construction management and safety reflects her adaptability and passion for learning.
To learn more about Women in Construction Week 2023 and the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), click here.
Click here to explore our thoughts on 2023’s Construction Market Volatility.
