A cross the United States, more and more women are entering construction trades which created many organizations to help recruit women or offer more opportunities to them. Minnesota programs for women working in construction appeared more than 30 years ago.

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) created a chapter in Minneapolis/St. Paul and signed a charter on June 23, 1969. At that time, the chapter was part of a larger region until 1975 when Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois formed Region 13. In 1994, the Greater Omaha, Nebraska, chapter joined Region 13.

Chapter goals included attracting new members, increasing awareness of NAWIC throughout the Twin Cities and educating youth about careers in the construction industry.

In 2007, Region 13 hosted a Regional Forum of all chapters in the region, held educational seminars, conducted 10 meetings/tours/networking events, and held two fundraisers with proceeds going to scholarships for college students majoring in construction-related fields.

On July 2, 1983, in northern Minnesota, 11 women who envisioned a national association to custom fit their business needs in the construction industry discussed how they will form a new organization to serve women. They formed an association with a vision to further the goals of women owners and executives in construction and developed five principles to assist, promote and enhance women working in the construction industry.

On January 20, 1984, the Women Construction Owners and Executives (WCOE), USA, filed its Articles of Incorporation in the state of Washington with headquarters in Spokane. It is a 501(c) 3 organization with chapters across the country that promote opportunities and business for women-owned firms and policy-making executives in construction.

In 2007 WCOE is focusing on regional meetings and bringing services directly to members through electronic bulletin boards and webinars. It also plans a greater presence in Washington, D.C., as an advocate for women business issues and, recently, submitted testimony to Congress on the federal government efforts in contracting with women business centers.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation began a program in the early 1970s for women to participate in government-financed projects. Few women joined the program but they had little or no experience in construction or lacked skills for the projects. This program evolved and, today, MnDOT has a director of Civil Rights who works with various organizations to find qualified women for state and federal programs in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights sets goals to include women in MnDOT construction projects, said Hope Jensen, director of Civil Rights. "We work with contractors to find women to work on projects. We created small programs with community-based organizations to give them a relatively small stipend for recruiting women and give these women a basic understanding of construction."

Another MnDOT initiative is the Roads Program where MnDOT pays stipends to neighborhood organizations to help recruit women trainees and place them at different work sites. Jensen said organizations send in proposals on what their programs look like and MnDOT selects from the proposals to determine with which organizations it will partner. Once proposals are selected, MnDOT pays organizations when a woman is placed in the program. If the woman lasts through the duration of the job, MnDOT provides another small payment.

MnDOT has difficulty finding and placing women as workers on construction sites. Although it sets diversity goals every year, MnDOT knows women continue to be under represented. The set goal for women is 6 percent in the seven-county Twin Cities area and throughout Minnesota for 2007.

This year, MnDOT is working with Merrick Community Center, St. Paul, and the St. Paul Urban League to place women on construction sites. Contractors looking for women on their projects can contact either organization to recruit.

Another Minnesota organization is the Association of Women Contractors (AWC) which is committed to helping women-owned companies in construction to become an active voice in Minnesota's business community. The organization began in 1995 to offer education to help improve women's professional business skills. Members have an inclusive forum to network with each other, seek advice and have opportunities to bid on a variety of Minnesota projects.

AWC provides scholarships to women in higher education or apprenticeships in construction-related programs. The goal is to increase the number of women working in the construction industry.

With a wide variety of programs and assistance, women who want to enter construction trades have many opportunities. They know they are no longer restricted to certain occupations.