MARINA – A local home-building company which has spent the past few years transforming former Army land into parts of local communities, has an all-women crew helping to prepare new sites for homes.
Norma Lopez, 25, and sisters Jocelyn Rivera, 31, Jessica Rivera, 29, and Maikel Rivera, 22, all of Salinas, comprise the crew who work the ground in preparation for infrastructure installation wherever their employer, Teichert Construction, needs them.
The four women were on site at the Shea Homes, Dunes On Monterey Bay housing development in Marina on Friday to talk about their experiences as operating engineers.
The all-female crew were in agreement that their jobs with Teichert are rewarding, educational and challenging.
“I love this career,” said Jocelyn Rivera who credits her sister Jessica with motivating her to pursue the same line of work in construction. Younger sister Maikel Rivera credits both of her older sisters with inspiring her to get into the profession also.
“I look up to my older sisters,” said Maikel who added she is in a good career which affords her the opportunity to grow and move up.
Shea Homes Northern California President Layne Marceau said in a press release that the company is excited to have more women in the industry and on its job sites, and pleased to be working with others who share that vision.
Shea hired Teichert Construction, which employs the all-women crew, to prepare sites for new homes at The Dunes in Marina and The Enclave in Seaside.
Women have been making inroads into the home-building industry for years now with strong representation in sales, marketing, legal, and finance, but there are relatively few in the construction industry.
“I wish more of my guys were as motivated as these women are,” said the female crew’s supervisor Carsten Allen.
The all-woman crew working on the Shea construction sites is being highlighted as March is International Women’s Month and this week is National Women in Construction Week.
Home-building work entails tasks that include driving earth movers to create roads, infrastructure and homesites, and maneuvering heavy equipment such as scrapers, rollers, blades, and skip loaders. The vehicles use satellite GPS and video to turn engineering drawings into reality.
To move thousands of yards of dirt to prepare a site for vertical construction, grade setter Norma Lopez works on the ground choreographing the movement of the vehicles with a walkie-talkie in hand, and the three Rivera sisters on the crew follow her direction, each operating an earth mover.
The Rivera’s father is a carpenter and encouraged them to join the construction industry.
The women belong to the Operating Engineers Local 3, and have each begun or completed their five-year apprenticeship, schooling and daily hands-on experience.
“We’re all still learning though,” said Lopez who has been working in construction for nearly three years.
Jessica Rivera has been with Teichert for seven years, is a journeywoman, and leads the crew. Her sister, Maikel is the youngest member of the team, and just one month into the union’s internship and certification program. Jocelyn Rivera has six years with Teichert under her belt. Most of this all-female team has been working together for two years.
Teichert Construction was started in 1887 by Adolph Teichert and is one of only five companies from the “first 100” to retain its original license from the state of California. When Teichert first started his business, there were few women found anywhere in leadership positions.
Teichert Construction says it is an infrastructure and site development contractor and a construction materials producer. The company’s construction services include mass grading, asphalt paving, concrete curbs and sidewalks, underground pipelines, and joint utility installations.
Today, Mary Teichert, the company’s president, says Teichert Construction is committed to building high-performing teams where diversity, equality and opportunity are encouraged.
“It can be challenging at times,” said Jessica Rivera, who added that the men they work alongside are “more open-minded these days.”
The women said that their male counterparts help, give guidance, and share their experience and background knowledge with them when needed. They agreed that Teichert is a company that is welcoming to women and emphasizes safety and harassment training as part of its culture.
“Women represent a huge untapped pool of talent — with women only holding 6% of U.S. construction jobs, there are a lot of women who do not yet see this industry for the amazing job opportunity it is,” said Teichert in the release. “Working together with visionary customers like Shea Homes, we know we can strengthen an amazing workforce for the future.”
Shea Homes has been transforming land that was formerly part of the U.S. Army base of Fort Ord into a modern residential community. When complete, The Dunes project will have over 1,200 homesites.
A few miles south in Seaside there is a smaller, but in some ways more challenging site for the all-women crew. They are grading a terraced site tucked between two fairways at the Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Courses. When completed, some of the homes at The Enclave at Cypress Grove will have sweeping views of the golf courses and Monterey Bay just beyond.
According to 2022 estimates by Zippia, 6.2% of all construction workers are women. The average age of an employed construction worker is 38.
Jessica Rivera said that compared to when she first started seven years ago, she sees more women working in the industry.
Maikel Rivera said that people are still getting used to seeing women working on construction sites, adding that though women are making progress, they still have a long way to go.
Jocelyn Rivera said she would tell other women interested in pursuing a career in construction not to limit themselves because women can learn anything.
