Pub. 2 2019-2020 Issue 1

25 • Amy Miller is the national director for the Asphalt Pavement Alliance* • Ashley Bateson, a member of the South Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, is the chair of the State Asphalt Pavement Associations* • Dr. Audrey Copeland is president and CEO of NAPA* • Gayla Stokes is employed by Shell Bitumen* • Jill Thomas is employed by the Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association* • Kat Crownover is the chair of the Asphalt Institute • Melinda McGrath is the executive director for the Mississippi Department of Transportation • Natasha Ozybko is employed by Road Science, a division of ArrMaz* • Nicole Corbin is employed by Asphalt Institute* • Suzy McManmon is employed by Wiregrass* NAPA has a new workforce development program. It is working to increase the trend of hiring women to work in the asphalt industry. It consists of three separate task groups: communications, partnerships, and promises. Each group is working to identify potential job candidates, recruit and retain them, and provide members with resources they can use while communicating with members. Some NAPA members are also doing what they can to encourage the trend. For example, Blacklidge Emulsions has a blog and social media series about women in asphalt that has featured leaders such as Dr. Copeland and Ms. McGrath. Part of the process of bringing more women into the asphalt industry is going to have to include educating current employees, most of whom are men. Sometimes they don’t know how to respond to cultural changes they’ve never seen before. Education and training are good ways to prepare them for the shift. For those who are interested, Helm Construction Solutions has a toolkit called “Breaking Down Gender Bias: A Toolkit for Construction Business Owners.” Other resources include: • “Providing Safety for Women in Construction,” July 2014 edition of APE, which is a publication of Allied Paving Equipment • “Creating a Construction Workplace Where Women Can Succeed,” published by Construction Executive in October 2015 Leaders within the asphalt industry will need to support the effort to recruit more women. Otherwise, the effort cannot succeed. But as they look at the increasingly big job shortages, it should be an easy sell for them to support bringing more women into the industry. Diversity improves the bottom line. Isn’t that enough of a reason to work toward it? 3 Leaders within the asphalt industry will need to support the effort to recruit more women. Otherwise, the effort cannot succeed. continued on page 23