October, 2025- Women make up nearly half of the total U.S. workforce but the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the number of women employed in manufacturing is less than 30 percent. In early 2025, women made up about 11 percent of the construction industry workforce.
According to the Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), the last decade has seen year-over-year growth in the number of women entering the construction industry. During NAWIC’s Women in Construction Week this past March, the Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA) launched its 2025 SteelStrong Women in Construction Legacy Builders campaign.
Established in 1972 by a group of North and South Carolina steel erectors, SEAA has since grown to represent steel professionals and companies throughout the U.S. As part of the campaign, the organization recognized 17 women who were nominated by colleagues in four categories: owners, executives, managers and the trades.
Maria Soldano
“We know women in construction don’t get the visibility they should,” says Chris Legnon, vice president of technology for Cooper Steel Fabricators in Nashville, Tennessee and president- elect of SEAA for the 2025-2026 term. “We wanted to change that focus a bit. This was the inaugural year for the campaign. We plan to make it an annual event because we want to continue to showcase the leadership, grit and determination of women in this industry.”
Established in 1960, family-owned Cooper Steel performs steel fabrication and erection including project management, detailing and estimating.
Jack Nix, chief operations officer for Shelby Erectors, a second-generation ironworker and president of SEAA for the 2025-2026 term, has worked in the industry since 1985. Shelby Erectors is a bridge rebar contractor in Florida with more than 100 employees.
In 2021, Shelby Erectors was featured on the season premiere of Discovery channel’s reality series “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe. “He helped us build a bridge and later said being a rodbuster was the hardest thing he’s ever done,” Nix says. “It’s a great compliment.”
Nix’s wife, Jennifer, owner and president of the company, was nominated for the Steel Strong Women in Construction’s “owners” category. “The men and women that work for us are second to none, and that’s a reflection of the leadership team,” she says. “I can’t help but be proud of our work and our trade.”
Their son, Jackson Nix, is a third-generation ironworker and vice president of administration for Shelby Erectors. He nominated longtime employee Maria Soldano for the campaign’s “trades” category. Soldano began working for the Nix family as a laborer when she was 18 years old. She worked her way up to foreman and now leads a crew on the Miami Signature Bridge, a high-visibility project for the Florida Department of Transportation.
“Maria is one of the few women in the reinforcing ironwork industry,” says Jackson Nix. “She is a hard worker and takes pride in pushing her crew to perform at the highest level of quality. She has also trained and mentored many ironworkers who are now foremen as well. She’s the backbone of her territory in South Florida.”
When asked what drew her to the industry, Soldano credits her older brother, Gregory Pena. Already employed by Jack Nix’s father, Verne, Pena initially tried to discourage his sister’s interest.
“Every day I would come home from high school and beg him to take me to work with him,” she recalls. “A month after I graduated, he finally took me. I was put to work threading bolts for structural steel. Verne asked, ‘Who is that woman, I’d like her to come back here.’ My brother said, ‘that’s my sister.’”
Ironworker and crew foreman Maria Soldano mentors and trains other personnel in the art of installing steel reinforcing rods.
TRUE GRIT
Since then, Soldano has performed tasks for the company that include rebar work in a submerged environment on the 17th Street Causeway in Ft. Lauderdale, driving a manlift 300 ft. in the air, and directing a crane to lift and move #18 60-ft.-long reinforcing steel bars.
Today the 61-year-old is an ironworker and crew foreman for Miami’s new I-395 Signature Bridge, which features six arches. Also known as The Fountain, the 1,025-ft.-long structure is expected to be completed in 2029. Soldano was also a rodbuster on Miami’s Turnpike Bridge.
Ironworker Maria Soldana makes sure rebar is tied and secured so it doesn’t move once the concrete is poured.
The projects she has worked on are a lasting testament to a combination of her drive, skills and tenacity.
“I love my job. I get up at 5 a.m. and head out to work a nine- to 10-hour day. I love being an ironworker, fighting the steel, carrying rebar, barking orders. We do decking, footers, columns, caps and end bends. We are building infrastructure with rebar. Once it’s laid, it has to be tied and secured with steel wire so when the concrete is poured it doesn’t move."
“I’m proud of what I do and I plan to keep doing it for as long as God gives me the health to work,” she adds.
Audrey Terwilliger with her father, Troy “Twig” Terwilliger. She is an ironworker for Pioneer, and he is director of structural steel at Pioneer.
Audrey Terwilliger was nominated for SEAA’s SteelStrong Women in Construction campaign by her father, Troy, and was also selected as a Legacy Builder for the trades category. A structural ironworker and welder for Pioneer Construction in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Terwilliger planned to pursue cosmetology and open her own business after high school. “I loved doing makeup and skincare for friends and family,” she says.
During her junior year in high school, she attended Lansing Community College’s Program and Career Showcase event. “I had to pick more than one option,” Terwilliger says. “They let us MIG weld, so I tried it and something just clicked in me.”
After mastering MIG, Terwilliger went to work for MDE Corp. as a sanitary TIG welder. “I learned TIG welding in the field,” she says. “Then my dad, who worked at Pioneer, encouraged me to apply there. I had zero knowledge of what an ironworker was. My other jobs focused on welding.
At Pioneer, it was ironworking rooted in welding.” Terwilliger credits her ability to embrace the field in part to a mentor she met at the 2022 Women In Construction Conference. “Jessica Novack, a project manager at Windemuller, had been in my shoes,” she says. “Aside from hours of conversation, Jess gave me a tough love kind of talk, and I left the conference with my confidence reignited and the encouragement I needed. It made me realize the importance of having a mentor who was also a woman in the trades.”
COURAGE
Terwilliger recently worked at the Acrisure Amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids. Construction began in 2024 as part of a larger 31-acre redevelopment plan along the Grand River.
“There are not a lot of women doing this work,” she says. “Every day is different. I may be welding a lot of verticals or a variety of different weld positions one day and, the next, throwing and detailing deck with the crew. Moment welds are my favorite."
Audrey Terwilliger chips slag off of a weld.
Welding structural components to form a rigid joint that can transfer significant bending moment and shear forces between connected members is crucial to the overall stability of a structure. Building codes and project specifications may call for moment welds to be Xrayed.
“I’ve never had a moment weld fail inspection —fingers crossed—and I take a lot of pride in that,” she says. “I was lucky enough to be taught the right skills, and I also have the patience (sometimes) to sit there all day and weld.”
Pioneer is divided into three departments. Terwilliger is the only woman in the steel division. She readily admits that women in the construction industry still grapple with ingrained stereotypes in a field that is predominately male. Terwilliger believes strong workplace policies are one solution to setting positive boundaries.
“I work with an amazing group of guys,” she says. “It took a couple months for everyone to adjust when I first started, but Pioneer has instilled good values and created a work culture where we are all just one big family. Pioneer is family owned by people who are just phenomenal individuals.”
PRIDE
Terwilliger’s advice to women considering a career as an ironworker is direct. “You have to be brave and confident,” she says. “You can’t be afraid of heights and you have to be open to change and be flexible enough to roll with it.”
“It’s hard work but I love it,” she continues. “The sense of accomplishment to be able to look at a building and say, ‘We did that.’ And my dad is one of my biggest supporters. This is his big, proud Dad moment.”
Margarito Romero and Johnna O’Gassian participate in an ironworker tradition of planting a fl ag and a Christmas tree on a project’s fi nal beam after it Is placed.
Johnna O’Gassian
SEAA SteelStrong Women in Construction nominees Johnna O’Gassian and Ada Booras were also named Legacy Builders in the campaign’s trades category. Both work for MAS Building & Bridge Inc. The Norfolk, Massachusetts, company focuses on heavy civil and structural steel work, serving its customer base with its bridge, marine and structural steel divisions.
Twenty-five-year-old O’Gassian and 19-yearold Booras were both nominated by their supervisor Jerry Morganelli. O’Gassian is an ironworker and foreman and Booras is a structural steel field engineer.
O’Gassian went to work for MAS right out of high school as a basic ironworker. Nearly seven years later, she has achieved several milestones. The State of Massachusetts awarded her a journeyman certification, followed by a welder and OSHA 30 certification. The 30- hour OSHA-authorized Outreach Training Program provides extensive training on workplace safety and health hazards, particularly for supervisors and workers with safety responsibilities.
She is participating in MAS’ Lead Person/ Foreman training program the company launched in 2024.
“I grew up on a farm,” O’Gassian says. “My dad had a welding machine that he used, and I thought it was interesting. At Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School I entered the metal fabrication program and interned at a small shop TIG welding medical parts, but I wanted more adventure in my life. I wanted to be outside. MAS was also part of their co-op program, and I was attracted to the work they did. There is something to be said about the feeling you get when you walk away from a permanent structure knowing you had your hands all over it.”
O’Gassian is adept at every job on a structural steel work site.
“She has taken charge of the raising gang on multiple high-profile projects,” says Morganelli. “In 2024, we had to replace a foreman on a major renovation project. She stepped up without hesitation to manage her crew, coordinate communication between the subcontractors and the general contractor regarding workflow and schedules, and discuss any issues with the fabricator. Her preparation, leadership and skill sets earned her the respect of an all-male crew, our company and the general contractor.”
Ada Booras prepares to weld on site for a bridge project.
ADVOCATE
O’Gassian has also been instrumental in helping new co-op students transition from the classroom to the job site. “It can be overwhelming for 16- or 17-year-old kids,” says Morganelli. “We have had some female students, and Johnna has been someone they could go to with questions. She will advocate for anyone who deserves an opportunity— male or female.”
Welding is a core task and skill for an ironworker.
Balancing professional and personal goals has O’Gassian looking ahead toward possible management roles. “If I were to start a family, I would need to move into a less hands-on role,” she says. “But the company has been great about supporting me and providing me with the training opportunities I need. I love what I do. Working in steel is daunting for women but it’s 100 percent possible. With the skills gap, companies will take someone with no experience and train them. There is so much opportunity right now.”
Booras credits O’Gassian’s mentorship along with that of Foreman Lee Baisley and Morganelli with helping her to learn about the detail side of ironworking.
Booras came to MAS as a co-op student for welding. “I originally went to trade school because I wanted to pursue art,” she says. “But we had to pick other areas to explore as well. I picked metal fabrication and welding. Ten minutes into the exploratory, I fell in love with welding. Once you put your hood down, you are in a different world.”
While Booras started with MAS as a co-op student, she became a full-time ironworker after graduation then transitioned into her current role with the company a year and a half after graduation. In that time, she has earned her certification as a welder in all positions for SMAW and FCAW for structural steel and bridge work.
Booras has had lots of practice. In addition to ironworking, she worked on a full bridge replacement project that required thousands of feet of welds.
“Although Ada is only 19 years old, she is such a proficient welder that she is now helping to train other employees participating in our welding training classes,” says Morganelli. “Ada has been instrumental in helping to train employees in our heavy civil and marine divisions to become proficient welders as well. Ada also took the initiative to put together a classroom training outline she thought would help inexperienced personnel learn faster.”
Ada Booras conducts welding training class for MAS personnel.
SWISS ARMY KNIFE
Morganelli says that he and Booras are developing an intern program to help with steel operations “that we hope will eventually become a full-time role,” he adds.
Trainees that are ready to be tested are sent to a certified welding inspector (CWI). The professional credential, issued through the American Welding Society (AWS), validates an inspector’s knowledge and ability to ensure welds are high-quality, safe and conform to industry standards. CWIs also perform visual and mechanical inspections.
In addition to training, Booras is conducting testing under the supervision of a CWI. “My next goal is to become a certified welding inspector,” she says.
Ada Booras and fellow crew members at a job site.
Booras recently transitioned to the office, where she is learning to break down cost estimates, translate budgets to print, schedule jobs and other skills. “I’m looking forward to learning more about the operational side of the business and seeing how everything translates from the office to the field,” she says. “I want to hold on to my love for welding through the training classes. My boss says I’m like a Swiss Army knife—I do a bit of everything.”
As industries like metalworking and construction continue to look for ways to close the widening gap between personnel who are retiring and individuals like Soldano, Terwilliger, O’Gassian and Booras willing to learn the trades, Jack Nix says hard work and the ability to adapt are valuable commodities.
“We are looking for people who want to become the best version of themselves,” he says. “Construction is still one of the trades where you can do that. If an individual has the heart and desire, we will do the rest.”
Legnon believes getting the word out has to start at the company level. “We need fresh ideas and new perspectives,” he says. “Out-of-the- box thinking is something we’re looking for in future generations. You have to go out there and tell the stories so people can hear them.”
Steel Erectors Association of America, 336/294-8880, seaa.net.
