A Message from Our President

Edith Clarke was a wife, mother, and the first electrical engineer in the U.S. Quite an accomplishment for someone born in the late eighteen hundreds!

Many often ask me why I chose to enter the trades and to become President of an electrical contracting business. It was easy. I was brought up in the trades and had some great role models – both male and female – helping me along the way. As I began to work my way up in the industry, I loved my job even more. Yet, in order to fill the estimated 1 million more electricians needed to fill the gap over the next decade here in the U.S., it will be necessary to recruit and train more women.

Yes, gender disparity continues to be a challenge in the trades, yet women are beginning to step outside the box when it comes to careers in the electrical industry. Forward thinking businesses also now realize the many benefits of hiring women in the trades. Why? Because they have an innate power to lead, and guide.

So, celebrate a new perspective on this Mother’s Day. Whether they have children or not, women nurture people. And thanks to Edith, the reliance on electricity now means amazing careers are in high demand for women too.

This year, Hollie Daniel, President of Benson Electrical Contracting, celebrates Mother’s Day with the latest addition to the Benson family, Ellis.