CHIPS Women in Construction Framework – Second Round of Planned Voluntary Company Actions

Additional companies pursue workforce investments, partnerships, and offerings under the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework.

Following the launch of the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework in May 2024, the Department of Commerce announced additional companies as having voluntarily committed to adopting the Framework: HP, Inc. and Polar Semiconductor.

The CHIPS Women in Construction Framework is a set of five best practices aimed at expanding the construction workforce by increasing the participation of women and economically disadvantaged individuals. Since voluntarily adopting the Framework, each company has engaged stakeholders including building trades unions, community organizations, and the construction industry to develop and refine planned activities under the framework, such as by convening women in construction roundtables in their regions.

The companies and their partners plan to take the following actions inspired by the best practices of the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework to advance their construction workforce goals. These proposed actions, which may be supported by proposed CHIPS workforce development funding, include investments in new recruitment and training pathways, partnerships with building trades unions and community organizations, and new childcare offerings that expand benefits to workers on construction sites, including registered apprentices.

HP, Inc.

• HP hosted a Women in Construction meeting in Corvallis, OR, bringing together representatives from building trade unions, construction companies, local schools, tradeswomen’s groups, government representatives, and HP management to discuss opportunities to promote the representation of women in the construction trades. HP will continue to foster ongoing dialog on this topic through a set of working groups that will be overseen by groups of key stakeholders.
• HP will collaborate with local unions, schools, and contractors (including Andersen Construction, JH Kelly, Charter Mechanical, EC Company, Streimer Mechanical, and Delta Fire) on outreach efforts for students and young women interested in learning about construction job duties, pay and benefits, and work environments. These efforts will include organizing tours led by trade representatives and female HP employees in project management or trades management, along with visits to schools to present at small assemblies or group meetings.
• HP will encourage mentoring programs with existing trade partners, including by incorporating mentorship opportunities into short-term job shadows and longer-term apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. For example, HP will work with their trades to encourage mentorship by allowing these efforts to be executed on the Corvallis campus, on current and future projects. Also, HP will partner with programs like Mechatronics at LinnBenton Community College. Through these programs, high school and college-age women will obtain hands-on experience and training.
• HP’s culture and work environment at the Corvallis facility are designed to support women’s participation, emphasizing respect for others, diversity, safety, and flexibility. For example, HP works to ensure that all workers have access to the existing resources like mother’s rooms on site. HP Corvallis currently has mother’s rooms in B3U West, B3U East, B4U NorthEast, B4U SouthEast, B5U East, and a Family Room under construction in B8. These facilities each have a sink, a refrigerator, a microwave, and a chair.
• HP will partner with local unions, as well as regional and national organizations, to expand pathways to construction jobs for women, encouraging recruitment activities through these organizations. For example, HP plans to engage with the Society of Women Engineers on opportunities to expand pathways on a national level, and with Oregon Tradeswomen to identify state-level opportunities, as well as Women in the Mechanical Industry, and Youth Progress Association.
• HP will collaborate with local unions and schools to create clear pathways and processes for high school students entering the trades, which includes helping school counselors understand the processes to guide interested students. HP will maintain a list of contacts for local school counselors and unions to ensure a viable network, enabling students nearing graduation to begin the training process and connect with trade professionals.

Polar Semiconductor

• Polar and their construction partner Mortenson jointly hosted a Women in Construction convening in Bloomington, MN. This convening included representatives from building trades unions, education and training entities, and other key stakeholders to discuss strategies to expand opportunities for women in the construction industry. Polar plans to host future convenings with stakeholders to continue these discussions.
• Polar will work with its partners through the MN CHIPS Coalition to implement the goal of increasing the number of women in the construction industry and supporting successful career opportunities, including with CHIPS workforce development funding. The MN CHIPS Coalition has convened a subgroup called the MN CHIPS Coalition Workforce Partnership, which brings together semiconductor industry employers, economic development organizations, state workforce boards and agencies, educational entities, community-based organizations, and labor and trade groups to address the hiring needs of semiconductor and related microelectronics employers.
• Polar will encourage the use of registered apprenticeship programs as part of its Project Labor Agreement with its contractors and will collaborate with trades unions in Minnesota to build on existing initiatives focused on increasing women and minority participation in 2 CHIPS for America apprenticeship programs. For example, the Building Strong Communities program multi-trade apprenticeship preparatory program that trains women, BIPOC, and veterans for careers in the building and construction trades.
• Alongside the MN CHIPS Coalition, Polar and its contractors are committed to apprenticeship and training initiatives supporting women and other underrepresented populations. Polar plans to work with Summit Academy OIC, which provides low-income students with entry-level skills in the construction field through classroom and hands-on training, on expanding training pathways.
• Polar, its contractors, and the MN CHIPS Coalition will develop and implement strategies to help bring down barriers to employment for women and other underrepresented populations. Workplace options like flexible and advanced scheduling, child care support, access to health care, paid time off and future compliance with Minnesota’s new paid family leave program, transportation, and retirement benefits will be part of these discussions.
• Polar will work with partners on efforts to maintain healthy, safe, and respectful workplaces. As another example, the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters (NCSRCC) has rolled out “Be More Than a Bystander” training to all their staff and member delegates, with the focus of preventing gender-based bullying, harassment, and violence.
• Polar will continue to pursue opportunities to partner with regional high schools, technical schools, and universities to provide quality workforce training and career exploration opportunities. Polar will also look for ways to expand partnerships in the construction industry through the participation of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council and the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association in the MN CHIPS Coalition Workforce Partnership.

Moving forward, HP and Polar will continue to work with their construction contractors and local partners, including trade unions and community-based organizations, to further develop and implement these activities.

For more information about the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework, and to view a full list of companies who have voluntarily adopted the Framework, please visit the CHIPS for America website.