by Gene Marrano
A milestone is about to take place in this country – sometime in the next few months women will, for the first time in history, comprise more than half of the workers in our nation. Females already go to college at a higher rate than men do. Salary differences (men still earn about a quarter more than women for the same work) haven’t been entirely erased yet, but “where there are numbers there is power;” the trend for increased income for women is likely to continue.
In part to mark the occasion, a symposium on October 1 at Hollins University will feature some high-octane female speakers from the local business world. “Now that We’re in Charge” includes a panel discussion from 9-10:30 a.m. with such heavyweights as Nancy Agee, Carilion Clinic CEO, Hollins University president Nancy Gray, attorney Maryellen Goodlatte and Hometown Bank president Susan Still.
Lesser known businesswomen and creative forces, like Tamea Franco Woodward, owner of a small manufacturing firm in Roanoke, and April Drummond, a writer/filmmaker who returned to school at Hollins in her forties, will also take part in the panel discussion.
There will be master classes on networking, community involvement, procuring loans, legal rights and the value of organizations from 11:45-12:30, then various breakout sessions after lunch on topics such as leadership, taking advantage of opportunities and “following your bliss.”
“We’re in Charge” is being staged by Valley Business Front magazine and is the first in a series of FRONTBurner events it will present. A class that Woodward took in New York, where she once studied watch making, led to the Women’s Forum after a lunch meeting she had with Valley Business Front editor Dan Smith.
“It seemed a natural for a conference,” said Smith, who wound up bringing together “eleven high profile, high-powered women who are in business and are successful. They know the ropes here and can tell [others] what to do.”
Woodward owns an anodizing business (electroplating a protective coating on surfaces that allows it to accept dye) that employs about 20 locally, the type of firm not normally associated with female ownership. It wasn’t started by a husband or inherited; she grew the business herself. Woodward isn’t advocating that others should follow her lead in seeking out “non-traditional” businesses to operate, rather she says, “women should follow their heart in what they want to do.”
Woodward will lead the Following Your Bliss session and plans to speak about tapping into “the feminine side of women. It’s the best resource that industry has, period.” She will describe the hurdles that had to be overcome, and “the blessing that is always there.”
“I was kind of curious about it and couldn’t sleep when I thought about anodizing aluminum,” said Woodward of her chosen profession, now several decades old. Her original customers were metal artists, although she has since reached out to a wider group of clients and has split her business into East West Dyecomm and Global Metalfinishing. She recently finished a business expansion.
Even during World War II – the era of Rosie the Riveter – women only amounted to about forty percent of the U.S. workforce, according to Smith. That apparently has changed. “Women don’t need to be the men they replace,” said Smith, “they have something men don’t have and it’s enormously valuable. Women need to understand what that is.” That would also seem to be a good way to sum up the women’s forum.
The women’s forum at Hollins University on October 1 is $30 per person. Visit Hollins.edu to register or call 556-8510 for more information.