“How did you get into the construction industry?”
That’s one question Westchester resident Roxanne Guerrerio won’t answer. Why? Because people don’t ask a man in a hard hat the same question. For women, construction is seen as a nontraditional job choice and one that often prompts questions everywhere they go. For men, on the other hand, the decision to get into construction is a common one and doesn’t elicit questions about how they choose their career or what it’s like for them in the industry.
“It’s to no one’s surprise when a male is an owner of a construction company,” Guerrerio notes.
But there are some hard truths. According to the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), about 1,173,000 women work in construction in the United States, which is slightly less than 10% of the construction industry workforce. Part of encouraging more women to enter the industry is talking about how it was made possible for other women before them.
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Guerrerio runs the Yonkers-based KCM Contracting, a certified woman-owned business. It is one of the top minority and/or women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) in the concrete, masonry, and construction contractor space in the New York metro area. More recently, Guerrerio expanded KCM’s footprint to projects Long Island. Projects include working on the Second Avenue Subway Station for the MTA, an MTA project at the Mount Vernon train station, and an NYU Langone Hospital project. Guerrerio works solely on public projects.
She says that what’s kept her in construction is what she prefers to focus on when inspiring other women to consider the trade.
“I want them to consider [a career in construction] not to be daring because you’re a woman and you want to go do something you’re not supposed to do, but because you have a passion for doing a certain kind of project,” she says.
Guerrerio says the field isn’t easy — for men or women — because it’s a fast-moving and demanding profession. Even so, it’s not without reward. Nothing tops working on an important project, like the Second Avenue subway station, which will transcend everyone who worked on it today.
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“If you want to be a part of something that is bigger than you, work hard, and have a sense of accomplishment about building something, I would highly recommend that [you] give construction a chance,” says Guerrerio. “If you are dedicated, there is so much room to grow.”
That growth is something that Guerrerio herself saw following her entry into the construction industry in 2011 after a career change that she didn’t want to discuss in detail.
“The amount of help that is out there if you’re a small business owner that can tap into those resources is astonishing,” she says.
And while construction is usually seen as an option instead of college, Guerrerio argues that a lifelong learning attitude will go a long way in the trade. She says that the best mix is learning a trade and then enhancing those skills with additional training.
“Don’t just work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and call it,” she says. “Take classes and learn more. Management skills can also be useful at some point down the line of your career.”
That’s her advice for anyone going into the industry, including her two sons who are considering the career path for themselves. When it comes to giving advice to other women in particular, “yes, there are going to be some instances where gender will affect some positions,” she says. But don’t pay too much mind to it.
“No one should really think ‘Oh, I can’t do this because I’m a woman,’” she says.
Related: Construction Trades Offer Good Pay and Job Satisfaction in Westchester
