Women, consider an IUOE apprenticeship

In 1986 I was afforded the opportunity to apply for The Western Pennsylvania Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program. Back then, I was was one of the few female candidates to apply. Thankfully, with the help of many forward-thinking leaders, I made it through the training and becamean official member.

What has ensued since has been a decades-long and very rewarding career. I have been a part of some of the biggest and most important construction projects in state history. In that time, I was also named to the Apprenticeship Board of Trustees. Because of my overwhelmingly positive experience, I have become a champion for bringing more women into our program.

While progress on this front was slow but steady at first, it went to a new level with the energy renaissance that has taken flight in Pennsylvania. The country’s need for affordable and reliable energy has resulted in the need for numerous pipeline projects, world-class ethane crackers and associated infrastructure build-out, which has sparked an unprecedented workforce demand — and with it unprecedented levels of female participation in the industryacross the board.

I’m so happy to say that International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66 has some of the absolute best women running cranes, bending pipe out on pipelines and running excavators. These women have stepped up to the plate and broken that ceiling.

If you are a woman, have a strong work ethic and think you have what it takes to become an operating engineer, I encourage you to look into our apprenticeship program. TAMMY GEANANGEL Director of Marketing IUOE Local 66

O’Hara