Working women

Local women’s group makes case for acceptance in construction

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer

When the call came in for a heating repair job, Teresa Suber decided she’d handle it. 

She showed up and the person who made the call decided that a female couldn’t handle his AC job. The scenario is one that women who head up companies in the construction business have seen played out many times.

Suber and her husband own Winton Suber Heating and Air in Gadsden County. 

“We have lost a couple customers like that because they don’t want a woman touching it,” Suber said. “My husband says that if they slam the door on you today; they’ll slam the door on you tomorrow. They need to understand that it’s a women’s world.”

Since March 7, Suber and several others have been celebrating Women in Construction Week. The celebration, which is essentially a highlight during Women’s Month, ends on Saturday.

The local organization, which is an affiliate of the National Association of Women’s in Construction, was also presented proclamation by Leon County government and the City of Quincy. They will conclude the week with a social media blitz, including posting of photos from the week.

Despite the week of public exposure, there is obviously work to be done to raising awareness about women’s capabilities. In some cases, women are giving up less labor intensive careers to become contractors.

The number of women who work in construction or own companies is growing each year, but there are stigmas that are not easily dismiss. Jackie Watts, former owner of Watts Mechanical, had seen it during the early stage of her career.

Pamela Jones-Smith, owner of BERNEXIS Construction Development, recently had an encounter while inspecting a job that her company had done in Gainesville. Another female supervisor of the project met Jones-Smith at the jobsite.

“When I showed up, she looked like she saw a ghost,” Jones-Smith said. “They were literally stumbling over their words.”

Jones-Smith has seemingly turned situations like that into opportunities to prove that she isn’t “the secretary or sitting in for some guy.”

There is an upside, she said.

“It’s good because at the end of the day, I want to show them I know what I’m doing,” Jones-Smith said. “I’m not just somebody with nails and some hair; I know what I’m doing.”

Jones-Smith took a long path to owning her constructing company. She graduated from FSU with an interior designing degree, then worked as a roofer, and framer. She even worked as a realtor before settling into her current position.

Watts, a Texas native came to FSU in 1981 and hasn’t left Tallahassee since, said women have proven their ability over the years. She went on to suggest that trade schools might be an option for breaking into a male-dominated field.

“We need to convince other people,” said Watts, who currently works for Tspark Enterprises – Roofing and Construction Service. “I’m a hands-on service tech. I had to learn duct work because nobody would hire me as a service tech. You just have to learn as you go, but women are moving in.”

The local women in construction group is headed up by Kerwyn Jones-Wilson, who learned the business by watching her father teach masonry at Gadsden Technical Institute for 12 years. She eventually took over Jones Construction from her father.

The organization holds events monthly. Those gathering, like this week, is an opportunity to recruit, said Jones-Wilson.

Eventually she’d like to see women in the field treated the same as their male counterparts.

 “We are going to be a dominant force in construction,” she said. “We are here trying to shine a light and just make sure that the industry knows that we are here and we are here to make a difference.”