Building More Than Structures
Opening Doors for Women in Construction
By Michelle Vasquez | Photography by David Teran
Construction is one of the most economically vital industries in the San Antonio region and one of the most overlooked for women. The sector supports 69.000 jobs across the San Antonio – New Braunfels metro area alone. It is a region with skilled tradespeople, engineers, estimators, project managers, and executives earning wages that consistently outpace the regional average. Yet women make up only about 10 to 11 percent of the construction workforce in Texas, a number that Michelle Davis, president of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) South Texas, is determined to change.
Davis came to her role through decades of experience in the industry she now champions. After graduating from college, she joined a company that happened to be an ABC member, and a chance encounter in 1996 led her into public accounting, where she spent nearly five years with 80 percent of her clients in construction. “That’s where I fell in love with the construction industry and its people,” she says. From there, she joined Joeris General Contractors as CFO, a role she held for 18 years, all while volunteering tirelessly for ABC. In 2008, she became the first female chairman of the ABC South Texas board of directors. She later served at the national level as PAC trustee and PAC chairman, and on the state board as well, before taking on her current role.
ABC South Texas is one of eight ABC chapters in Texas and part of a national network of 67 chapters representing over 24,000 member companies across the country. The San Antonio chapter currently serves close to 200 member companies, ranging from subcontractors and general contractors to suppliers and industry professionals. Founded locally in 1972, the organization was based on a shared belief that work should be awarded based on skill and merit, not union affiliation. The chapter has grown into one of the region’s most influential voices for workforce development, advocacy, and industry education.
At the heart of ABC South Texas’s work is a Department of Labor-certified apprenticeship program that Davis describes with pride. Participants work in the field during the day, accumulating between 6,000 and 8,000 on-the-job training hours over a four-year period, while attending evening classes one night a week taught by industry instructors who walk them through progressively advanced technical curriculum from Level 1 Electrical, Pipefitting, Sheet Metal, Carpentry, and Plumbing all the way to Level 4. Upon completing the program, apprentices graduate with a journeyman designation in their trade. “You’re getting on-the-job training but having that apprenticeship program in the evening, and you’re also working during the day, so you’re earning a living. Says Davis, “Apprenticeship programs are the foundation of our industry, developing skilled professionals, strengthening our workforce, and ensuring the future of construction is built by those who are trained to do it right.”
Beyond the apprenticeship pipeline, ABC South Texas offers a full range of professional development programming that includes blueprint reading, soft skills, communication, mid-management leadership training, and executive-level development, including sessions led by former Navy SEALs. The chapter works in partnership with Alamo Community Colleges and collaborates with Workforce Solutions Alamo to connect members with trained talent and expand access to training for those who might otherwise face financial barriers.
Babyblue Rodriguez, an ABC Apprentice Program participant, says it best, “I went from being a carpenter to an assistant superintendent. The ABC apprentice program is perfect for anyone entering the trades who doesn’t know where to start but has the drive and dedication to pursue a career in the construction industry, by using all the provided resources to become the next generation of builders.”
One of Davis’s most urgent missions is reframing how the public thinks about construction as a career. “When I think of the construction industry, I think of it like a military base,” she says. “You have accountants that specialize in construction, accountants, attorneys, bankers, marketing departments, risk managers, engineers, and technology professionals. And then you have the most important people in our industry who are building the projects. Those are our boots on the ground.” The pathway into the industry, she emphasizes, does not require a four-year degree.
Davis often tells the story of a woman who took a receptionist role at a construction company, insisted on being put in the field despite not having a degree in construction management, and is now a C-suite executive at one of the largest general contractors in San Antonio. “That’s hard to find in other industries,” Davis says. “You can start out as a plumber, but in 10 years, if you want to own your own firm, you can do that. That’s open for both men and women. You’ve got to have the grit, the discipline, and the desire to keep bettering yourself.”
Davis has long been candid about the uphill climb that women face in entering a male-dominated field, but she is equally clear-eyed about the cultural shift underway within ABC’s membership. “Being a female in a male-dominated world, and them accepting me as their equal, that’s what made me love ABC from the beginning,” she reflects. “They want everybody to succeed.” That culture of inclusion extends to ABC’s formal programming. The chapter runs six committees and two affinity groups: Future Leaders, aimed at young professionals across the industry, and Ladies Operating for Growth in Construction (LOGIC), a women-centered network focused on professional empowerment, mentorship, and community. “It’s all about empowering them with trust, with knowledge, with connection,” Davis says.
“She’s the biggest cheerleader for our industry, not just for women in it. She’s a strong woman leader who has proven that throughout the years, and she’s even making an impact on the government side, fighting to help make it an equal playing field for everybody,” says Heather Osborne, Chair of LOGIC.
Davis is also vocal about a dimension of workforce wellbeing that often goes unacknowledged: mental health. ABC National has made total human health a strategic priority, and the South Texas chapter has embraced it fully. “We care about our people,” Davis says. “We want our people to go home the same way they came in, but we also understand they’re having real-life struggles at home and are being asked to come to work and do a dangerous job.” Every safety committee meeting now includes a mental health awareness component, and the chapter is certified through VitalCog to support members in recognizing warning signs and having difficult conversations.
When asked what she most wants women and young people to understand about construction, Davis doesn’t hesitate. “I want to show and share with everyone in San Antonio how many opportunities are out there,” she says. “Our ABC members are going to educate you, pay you well, give you benefits, training, safety certifications, leadership development, and skills training. And they are going to treat you as an equal.”
For Davis, the work is personal. She has spent three decades watching the construction industry shape lives, including her own, and she sees in every apprentice, every LOGIC member, every student who steps onto a job site for the first time, the same potential that was once extended to her. “If we can grow this industry to be stronger, more educated, and safer,” she says, “that’s going to attract young women into it. And that changes everything.”
