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Today we spotlight one of our members that started out as a student and now sits on the national MCAA Career Development Committee! 

Meet Sabrina Pavlova with Spring Field Engineering Company (SECO) in Springfield, MO. Sabrina first joined the industry as a student at Missouri State University as part of our career development initiative. After graduating in 2022 with a Construction Management degree she began her internship with SECO and transitioned to a full-time position with them after graduation.  

For Sabrina it was more of a who, than a what, that brought her to the industry. One of her undergrad professors, Jacob Nelson, got her involved in the MCAA Student Competition one year. The competition piqued her interest in the mechanical industry and MCAA. “The coolest thing I’ve been involved in with the industry has been the MCAA Student Competition. Through the competition, I had the opportunity to travel, meet new people, and learn about exciting projects happening across the United States,” shared Sabrina. Jacob continued to mentor her and assisted her with locking in an internship with SECO. 

Sabrina’s story continues to inspire as she has come full circle and now sits on the MCAA’s National Career Development Committee. “It is such an honor to be a part of a national committee. It all happened so fast, I’m still in shock a little bit,” Sabrina shared in addition to some advice for any student or female hoping to one day sit on a committee; “Make sure you get involved as much as possible. Make sure you take every opportunity to network with others and get your name out there. It is a very small world, and you never know when someone you’ve met could help you reach your goals”.  

When asked what she loves about the industry, Sabrina shared; “I love the mechanical industry because we bring comfort and ease to people’s lives. Our work is often times disregarded, hidden behind walls and above ceilings, but without the systems we install and maintain, people would still be using outhouses and fetching water in buckets. Not to mention the importance of piping systems in life preservation (hospitals & clinics) or food/medicine production (manufacturing facilities).” 

Sabrina urges females entering the industry to not be intimidated. “The guys try to be intimidating and impress you with their knowledge, but there’s no need to feel inferior. We all start somewhere and most of them are just trying to figure out where you are to know how to meet you in the middle.” 

 

Be sure to join us in Nashville June 12–14, 2023 at the 3^rd annual Women in the Mechanical Industry Conference.

MCAA would like to recognize the many people that make our Women in the Mechanical Industry Initiative possible. They work hard to enable women in the mechanical industry to further enrich their careers through networking, educational, mentoring and career development opportunities takes help from women on both a national and local levels. We are so thrilled to have the support of so many!   

National WiMI Committee 

Stacy Johnson, Auburn Mechanical, WiMI Chair 

Wendy Glauber, John W. Danforth Company, WiMI Vice Chair 

Kori L. Gormley-Huppert, Gormley Plumbing + Mechanical, WiMI Past Chair 

Renee Fiorelli, Peterson Service Company, Inc.  

Charlotte Flesher,  F.E. Moran, Inc.  

Ellen Geiling, JPG Plumbing & Mechanical Services, Inc.  

Kelly Goldovich, Trane  

Elisabeth Howard, Postler & Jaeckle Corporation  

Kelsey Johnson, MCA of Omaha, Inc.  

Kathryn Kline-Smith, Binsky & Snyder  

Laura Loziuk, Tyler Pipe & Coupling  

Clare Shropshire, Total Facility Solutions, Inc.  

Michelle Thrailkill, Denali Construction Services, LP 

Kristy Willis, Bradley University 

Local WiMI Committees

MCA of Chicago  

MCA of Cleveland  

MCA of Kansas City  

MCA Metro Washington  

MCA of New England  

MCA of New Jersey  

MCA of Northern California  

PMCA Oregon 

MCA of Omaha

If you have a local WiMI Committee not listed here, please reach out to Michaela Mueller at mmueller@mcaa.org so we can add you to our family! 

Welcome to our newest local WiMI Committee, MCA of Cleveland!

 
MCA of Cleveland’s local WiMI Committee hosted their first meeting last week with 16 women in attendance. Their group included women from Local 55, Welders, Accounting, Project Management and Service Management. Sommer Mann, MAPIC Cleveland lead the group’s discussion about WiMI and how it could benefit us on a local level. One of the committees’ goals is to focus on getting more women involved in the mechanical industry and how they can reach out to younger generations to show them there is a place for women in this industry. They will be hosting their next meeting at the end of April. 

We are so excited to have MCA of Cleveland’s local WiMI Committee on board!  

MCAMW Local WiMI Committee Continues to Grow

The Women in the Mechanical Industry (WiMI) Washington, DC Committee started in 2018 with 8 members and has grown to 63 members in 2023. Guided by Chair Ellen Geiling, and with support from committee member Ashey Hayes of Southland Industries, they hope to continue to increase their membership by the end of the year. MCAMW WiMI has hosted several events over the past year. Last year they hosted their first annual Leadership Summit. With over 30 attendees, the summit provided an amazing opportunity for women to meet and support their industry peers. With much appreciated assistance from Nichelle Lenhardt and Danielle Duffy with the MCA of Metropolitan Washington, they plan to host the second Leadership Summit at the Turf Valley Resort this May. 

Celebrating WIC Week Across MCAA! 

MCA Kansas City 
March 9, Ask Outrageously! The Secret to Getting What You Really Want 
https://www.mcakc.org/ev_calendar_day.asp?date=3%2F9%2F23&eventid=661

MCA Metro Washington 
March 9, Networking Event at Chi’bal Restaurant, 4-7 p.m. 

PMCA Oregon and UA290 
March 8th, Top Golf , 4 – 7 p.m.  
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ua290-and-pmca-women-in-construction-top-golf-event-tickets-520869764487  

Be sure to join us in Nasville June 12–14, 2023 at the 3^rd annual Women in the Mechanical Industry Conference. Register today! https://mcaaevents.org/wimi-conference/ 

Karin Dahlin, First Woman to Win UA International Apprentice Contest 

Karin Dahlin is a journeyman service pipefitter with Minneapolis Pipefitters local 539. She received her HVACR degree at Minneapolis College in 2018 and completed her apprenticeship with local 539 in June of 2022. She chose this trade because of the variety it offers, and she enjoys working on something new each day.  

Last year, Karin participated in a series of United Association Apprenticeship contests, culminating in the International Contest in Ann Arbor, MI, where she finished first place for HVACR Service Technician. The HVACR Service Technician winner was Karin Dahlin from Local 539, Minneapolis, MN, District 4. Making her the first woman contestant to win. 

12th Annual Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) Conference 

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) hosted their 12th Annual Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) conference last October in Las Vegas, NV welcoming more than 3,100 tradeswomen and construction industry leaders convened. NABTU’s TWBN conference remains the largest gathering of its kind in the world. The United Association was the largest international union represented at this year’s TWBN conference. The UA had 615 attendees, breaking its attendance record once again. In an article posted in the United Association Journal about the conference it was said that “being in a union ensures that women get paid the same hourly rate as men on the job, but the big questions raised at the TWBN conference this year were: Are women being treated the same on the job, are women getting the same on-the-job training, are women regularly being offered overtime hours, and how can unions ensure equity on the job?” Inequity is one of many issues that tradeswomen are working hard to change for women in unionized trade careers. Conferences like this allow these women the opportunity to share experiences and best practices with fellow tradeswomen, learned about new programs and opportunities in the industry, and engaged with top leaders from government, industry, building trades unions. Next year’s conference will be held December 1-3, in Washington, DC. 

Read the full article from the UA Journal Here: https://www.mcaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UA-Journal-Jan-Feb-2023-TWBN35.pdf  

Be sure to join us in Nashville June 12–14, 2023 at the 3^rd annual Women in the Mechanical Industry Conference. Register today! https://mcaaevents.org/wimi-conference/