By cornellroofing General • Products & Information • • • • • • 0 Comments

What it Means to be Woman-Owned

What it Means to be Woman-Owned
Certified WBE
Cornell Roofing and Sheet Metal is proud to be a fully WBE & DBE certified, woman-owned business. But other than saying a member of the fairer sex runs this well-oiled engine, what does that mean? According to MWBE.com, to become a certified woman-owned business, that business must show:

• All prospective members must provide evidence that at least 51% or more is a women-owned, managed and controlled
• The business must be open for at least six months.
• The owner must be a United States citizen or legal resident.

WBE stands for a Woman Business Enterprise, and DBE means a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, which is somewhat confusing. To make it clear, Cornell is at no “disadvantage”. DBE simply means a business concern where socially and economically disadvantaged individual owns at least 51% of the business. These individuals can be anyone from Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and a multitude of others, but in Cornell’s case it means simply women.

Mary McNamara not only has to have at least 51% ownership in the company, but she also has to show a contribution of capita, direct management, policy, fiscal and operational matters, and perform without the reliance of any other firm or resource not owned by a woman (which she does quite nicely). And it’s important to the Cornell Way to continue to encourage other women to join the trade and pick up tools.

By cornellroofing American Subcontractors Association • • • 3 Comments

Women Build Nations with Our Girls Leading the Way

Women Build Nations

Women Build Nations with Our Girls Leading the Way

Women build nations. Well they better considering women make up half the population. Although the number of tradeswomen in the roofing and sheet metal industry remains far too low, the environment is certainly becoming more inclusive and growing to incorporate women in all sorts of positions ranging from business managers to presidents (like Cornell’s own Mary McNamara).

Women Build Nations is a conference that originally began in California in 2010 as a way of gathering like-minded industry women. Since then it has grown to a national level, this year breaking records in attendance and for the first time being hosted outside of California in the central meeting place of Chicago. Thus allowing professionals from 40 states, Canada, Nigeria and even the Philippines to attend.

And as an industry, woman-owned business leader, of course Cornell Roofing had a strong presence. This year Cornell sent two of its very own roofing ladies, these aspiring young women are looking to make a change and grow to success in this traditionally man-run realm. While attending this fervor of a weekend, our girls attended a multitude of speakers, workshops, seminars, caucuses, social gatherings and more. Bringing back to the Cornell table a vast expanse of knowledge gained, the Cornell ladies are ready to take on the roofing world.

And these women are anything but commonplace in this world. All 1,500 attendees were asked if they had ever been the sole woman on a job site. As you may have guessed (or if you live under a rock, to your surprise), every woman’s hand shot up. Women like our own not only attended to learn and expand in their chosen profession, but also to continue blazing the path for future generations of women who want to work with tools. The opportunities are there, and our women are leading the way, breaking down the barriers with Mary McNamara as a key inspiration. And it’s to everyone’s common interest to understand the industry is progressing and to be that change.