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November 15, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Participants Laud Second Annual Women in Construction Conference

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WASHINGTON, DC (November 15, 2007)— Thelen LLP hosted the Second Annual "Women in Construction Conference—A Leadership & Networking Conference by Women, for Women,” at its Washington, DC office November 15.  The conference was coordinated by Thelen Construction partner Barbara Werther, Esq., along with fellow Board Members, Kathy Alexander of StructureTone LLC, Tracy Browne of Balfour Beatty Construction, Lisa Enloe of Held Enloe & Associates LLC, Peggy Jones of the James G. Davis Construction Corporation, Kathy Taub, Esq. of Kathy S. Taub LLC, Margaret Van Voast of WCD Metro LLC and Barbara C. Wagner of Clark Construction Group.

The full-day conference brought together nearly 150 high-powered business, legal, and community leaders with experience in areas that are of critical importance to women working in the construction and design industry. The agenda combined valuable technical information with ideas and advice about how to improve professional skills like networking and negotiating.

The conference began with a keynote address from Linda Rabbitt, founder, Chairman and CEO of Rand Construction Corporation.  As the head of one of the largest women-owned construction companies in the nation, Linda spoke to the lessons learned from her experiences in the industry, and offered valuable insight on her thoughts on achieving the optimal work-life balance.  One attendee remarked that "Ms. Rabbitt was truly outstanding.  Her frank and honest discussion about the lessons she has learned inspired me to think more out of the box about my own career goals!"  Ms. Rabbitt was followed by a panel presentation featuring a discussion on LEED certification and the "green" or sustainable building boom. Kay Lantrip of Earth Tech, a LEED accredited professional, led the topic with RTKL's Dianne Black and Brian Frels, who discussed the LEED certification process and the need for sustainable design in modern construction. 

Stonebridge Associates' Jane Mahaffie lead a highly informative panel discussion on construction financing.  Panelists Erin Peartof Wells Fargo, Maureen Massa of Thelen, Sydne Garchik of SMG Advisors, and Kent Marquis of Stonebridge Associates took the example of a mixed-use project in Washington and discussed the financing process, cradle to grave.

The afternoon began on a humorous note as Barbara Werther and Barbara Wagner led in their bulletproof vest-clad panelists for a "no holds barred" discussion on "Why Women Are Good (or Bad) for the Industry – by Men."  Leading male executives and experts, including Jim Brogan of Facchina-McGaughan, Allyn Kilsheimer of KCE Structural Engineers, Hon. Richard Levie (ret.) of JAMS, and Paul Nassetta of PN Hoffman, discussed their experiences working with women in the construction industry.  The audience was engaged in the topic, asking the speakers to share their thoughts on double standards, hiring practices, and how the panelists could enlighten other men in the industry to the benefits of having women in construction.  As one attendee later commented, "I loved it!  It was a very refreshing and candid conversation on something that affects everybody, every woman, every day!"

The final panel revisited a popular topic from the first "Women in Construction" Conference: the role of mentoring.  Mentors and their mentees recounted their special relationships.  Moderator Peggy Jones lead the panel, which included Kathy Alexander and her mentee, Antoinette Harris of StructureTone Inc., Kathy Taub and her mentee, Mona Dajani of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Jim Davis of Davis Construction (in absentia) and his mentee, Meghan Davis of JM Zell Partners LLC, Lisa Enloe of Held Enloe and Associates and her mentee, LeeAnn Goodwin of Smoot Construction, Jon Gerstenfeld of SJG Properties and his mentee, Ashley Gerstenfeld Wiltshire of SJG Properties.  Attendees found the discussion on mentoring to be "excellent, informative, and priceless," while one attendee reported her excitement to "go out there and mentor and be mentored!"

This panel was followed by our second keynote speaker, Harriet Tregoning, Director of the D.C. Office of Planning, who discussed her vision for the City of Washington, including greater public transportation, more access to public parks and green space, and a strong green building initiative.  The conference culminated with a champagne and chocolates networking reception, sponsored by FTI Consulting and chocolatier Jacques Poulain of Cacao.  The conference overall proved to be a success, with positive feedback from the attendees: "I truly enjoyed myself.  It was heartwarming to see so many women come together to talk about issues that I face myself.  Being able to meet such accomplished women was awesome!"

Several vendors were present to showcase their products to the attendees, including The Washington Business Journal (Courtney Abrams, cabrams@bizjournals.com), Arbonne International (sherryturner.myarbonne.com), The Sage Heart Jewelry Designs (jlaoulidi@thelen.com), clothing by Fit 2 a T (haskan@comcast.net) and jewelry by Susan Koehn Designs (mail@susankoehndesigns.com), who presented a lunch time fashion show designed to show women how to dress "From the Job Site to the Board Room to Dinner."

WIC’s sponsors are owed a debt of gratitude for their continued support:  PN Hoffman, Held Enloe & Associates LLC, James G. Davis Construction Corporation, Balfour Beatty Construction, WCD Metro LLC, JAMS, StructureTone Inc., Forrester Construction Company, KCE Structural Engineers, Facchina-McGaughan LLC, Cacao by Jacques Poulain, FTI Consulting, Opus East LLC, The Crowley Group, and Hunt Construction Corporation.  Special thanks to raffle donors Duluth Trading Company, Random House Inc., pureskin llc (Amy Boyce (301) 775-7755), Karyn Seymour Skincare (karynseymourskincare@hotmail.com), Sagemark Consulting (Bob Gottschling (703) 749-5048), and A Mano of Georgetown (Adam Mahr (202) 298-7200), for donating raffle prizes and attendee gifts.

Thelen looks forward to hosting the next "Women in Construction" Conference on Thursday, November 13, 2008.  Please be sure to save the date!

For further information, contact:

Barbara Werther
Partner
Thelen LLP
202.508.4279
bwerther@thelen.com

About Thelen LLP
Thelen LLP is an international law firm with approximately 600 attorneys, and offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Hartford, Northern New Jersey, Shanghai, and London. The firm provides superior legal services in complex commercial litigation; corporate and capital markets transactions; project and asset finance; construction; labor and employment; intellectual property; information technology; domestic and international tax; employee benefits; government affairs; and real estate.

 

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