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to the program every graduation to handpick students who have earned appropriate qualifications. "You have to make room for women. If a woman pulls up your ad or pulls up your website and sees a bunch of guys working, the not-so-subtle message is that she doesn't belong there," says James Neel, who had to prove herself on every jobsite and advance through the industry despite frequent barriers and resistance. "If [contractors] want diversity, they have to make room for it." e perception of construction labor as an undesirable profession also needs to change if people expect to alleviate an aging workforce anytime soon. Schools and families must acknowledge a stigma of the trades and understand the long-term career opportunities within construction, says Michael Smith, co-founder and executive director of Colorado Construction Institute in Denver. "We have to take away the old stereotype of what a craftsperson is," explains Smith, who started the non- profit training organization in 2012 to help people learn the hard and soft skills necessary for employment in the field. "We have to recognize our industry is changing, our community is changing, and it's not a job for just a burly guy who's got a pickup truck and some tools." Contractors became accustomed to networking through their trades when they sought additional useful for taxpayers' money. We found that if we could keep things compartmentalized we could keep our budget in check and really start to put the money toward the students and the product." CHANGING PERCEPTION Amy James Neel spent more than 20 years in the field as a carpenter and a builder, but she did not see many other women on the jobsite. Now an instructor for Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Portland that educates and trains women interested in a trades career, she promotes success for an underserved segment of people through leadership and mentorship. "If I had met a [female] carpenter when I was in high school [or] I had seen images of women doing this work, my whole life path would've been different," says James Neel, who pursued a career in the construction industry in her late 20s. "We have absolutely no shortage of people applying to our program; we see more women coming in our door than we can actually serve." Some contractors approach Oregon Tradeswomen be- cause they desperately need employees or they must fulfill a diversity quota among their workforce, she says. Once contractors observe a woman bring initiative and perform effectively on the job, however, they begin reaching out Contractors must use gender-neutral language and include women in their ads if they want to expand and diversify their labor sources, says Amy James Neel, an instructor for Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. Photos: Dawn Jones Redstone of Heart + Sparks Productions QualifiedRemodeler.com QR January 2017 43