Opening Doors

WBE Business Owner Discusses Keys to Success

By Andrea C. Lange

The construction industry offers a wide variety of career paths and entrepreneurship opportunities for women. Cathy McBride discusses her successes and challenges as founder of a woman-owned construction company, and how organizations like NAWIC and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council offer support and open doors.

Cathy McBride, founder of M-Truss & Components LLC. Photos courtesy M-Truss.

Cathy McBride received her Women’s Business Enterprise Council certification in August. McBride, a member of the National Association of Women in Construction Las Vegas Chapter, is the managing member and founder of M-Truss & Components LLC, the only fabricator in Las Vegas approved by Clark County for cold-formed steel trusses and wall panels. M-Truss provides design, engineering and fabrication for its trusses and wall panels.

Southwest Contractor: What has been your key to success as a woman business owner in the construction industry?

Cathy McBride: I find hard work and knowledge of my product are the only ways to succeed. After being in business for six years, I feel confident I can answer most questions asked of me, or I know where to find the answer. This knowledge and confidence makes going in front of a roomful of mostly men easier each time.

SWC: As a woman business owner, how have you been able to make a difference in the community?

CM: We were and still are the pilot program for Nevada Prison Industries to use minimum-security inmates, allowing them to leave the confines of a fenced area to work at our fabrication production plant across the road. We are a training program to teach the basics of construction, such as use of hand tools, measurements, terms, safety and jobsite protocol.

Teaching teamwork and responsibility to correct procedures is critical to our program. Our employees are eligible to contribute to our 401K program, and once vested receive a 4% employers contribution. We pay all normal payroll taxes as well as child support required of our employees.

Andrea C. Lange has been an active NAWIC member since August 2005.

At the request of an employee leaving us, we will supply a referral and if possible help locate employment within the construction industry. The information provided to us shows only one past employee has re-offended since leaving our program.

SWC: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned since opening your own business?

CM: That I am braver than I believed, stronger than I seem and smarter than I think. I wish I had known the incredible sense of accomplishment you get from employing people, being responsible for making sure they get paid and have satisfying work to do, relying on yourself to be able to take care of your family and lifestyle.

SWC: What are the most important industry issues affecting your business right now?

CM: Developers will find investment money harder to come by, which filters down into projects actually built. Finding ways to reduce building costs by doing more pre-fabricated components will be our biggest push in 2008. Promoting steel as a viable “green” building product will also be our goal.

SWC: What new opportunities has your company had since your recent certification?

CM: Becoming a Woman’s Business Enterprise in August has opened more doors for me into government and diversity program work. Recent bid work at Nellis Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base has picked up, and thanks to our providing steel trusses on a few projects in 2004 and 2005 and going through the steps of becoming an approved alternate, we are seeing more light-gauge steel work coming out in the architect’s original design.

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We have received invitations to look at work on the Las Vegas Strip thanks to the diversity programs being sponsored and pushed by Perini, Harrah’s and MGM.

SWC: How can the industry encourage more women and minorities to enter the construction workplace?

CM: By sponsoring and attending programs like the AGC’s House of Cards and NAWIC Block Kids that encourages kids to consider construction as a viable career. We can encourage existing construction professional associations to host career days for high school and middle school students. Marketing and promoting scholarships for construction related fields like architecture, engineering and design.

SWC: Are Las Vegas and Nevada supportive places for WBE/MBE?

CM: Las Vegas is growing at such a rapid pace that if being a WBE/MBE isn’t working here for you it won’t work anywhere. With all the diversity programs that the biggest companies in the state offer, it is the best place to start or grow a business. Having your certification gets you noticed.

Andrea C. Lange has been an active NAWIC member since August 2005. She is the current PR/marketing chairperson for the Las Vegas Chapter. NAWIC was incorporated as a national support network for women in 1955. Today there are 179 chapters in almost all 50 states. NAWIC is open to any women employed in the construction industry.

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