Last October, Laura Skellie was elected president of the Coastal Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), a group where she previously served as a chapter and committee chair. It was another step forward for the 11-year industry veteran, who currently serves as Superintendent at JE Dunn Construction. Her diverse construction career includes roles as project engineer with a general contractor and an architectural designer at an architectural firm, both located in Birmingham. Active in community service, Skellie also donates her time via photography, running her neighborhood’s community page, organizing clothing drives and helping with historic renovations. We sat down with her to get her thoughts on what it takes for women to keep climbing the ladder and what the future holds post-pandemic.
Employing some of most in-demand occupations such as construction and extraction roles in 2020, the US construction industry lost about 1.1 million jobs from February to April, according to analysis from LaborIQ by ThinkWhy. The losses took hold as the industry faced …
Manufacturing facilities, once the backbone of American industrialism and now considered obsolete, can through purposeful reuse metamorphosize for modern industry. Through repositioning, these expansive spaces offer solid framework, ceiling heights and architectural elements uncommon to modern construction. A well-executed reinvention enables a second life dramatically different from first use. Unitex, one of the nation’s top 10 commercial laundry service providers, embraced adaptive reuse for its 12th location and first facility in the Massachusetts’ market. Consisting of both processing and delivery operations to service the state’s vibrant life science and healthcare industries, Unitex leased Crown Holdings, formerly a 188,000 square foot global beverage and food can manufacturer, rooted in the Boston market for 25-plus years.