Professional Women in Construction hands out awards. (Transcripts).

"Where else but at a PWC Awards Reception can you honor a quartet of remarkable women, salute the companies and agencies that support their advancement -- and make business contacts at the same time?" said Professional Women in Construction (PWC) president Lenore Janis as she welcomed the overflowing crowd to the organization's 22nd Annual Awards Reception, held the evening of March 19, at the Marriott East Side in New York City.

PWC granted the Project Recognition Award for Community Outreach to Washington Mutual, a financial services company with 2,300 consumer banking, mortgage lending, commercial banking, consumer finance and financial services offices throughout the nation and consolidated assets of more than $240 billion--including 123 branches in the greater New York area since the recent acquisition of the Dime Savings Bank. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, the highest-ranking elected woman official in city government, made one of her first public appearances to welcome Washington Mutual to New York, and praise the company for its Supplier Diversity Program.

Karen E. Curtin, senior vice president, planning and franchise development, and Dean C. Yerem, assistant vice president, construction contracts specialist, both of Washington Mutual, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Curtin noted that nearly 30,000 of the company's 42,000 employees are women, as are four board members and 49% of the division and department heads. She also told the audience that the National Association of Female Executives ranked Washington Mutual fifth among the top companies for executive women among the Fortune 1000. "We are serious about providing opportunities to women-owned businesses," she said.

The Meritorious Award went to the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA). Heading the largest school construction program in the world with a budget of $2.37 billion in 2001, the SCA has delivered 110,000 new seats to the NYC public school system through 128 new schools and additions. PWC paid tribute to the SCA for its renowned mentoring program and the large numbers of contract dollars it has awarded to women and minority-owned and locally based firms: $1.2 billion from 1998 through 2001, $314 million in 2001 alone. Ronald A. Gottlieb, the newly appointed SCA president who brings to his position over 30 years of experience in construction, accepted PWC's honor, and encouraged the audience "to take advantage of the SCA's numerous programs" for women and minorities.

Special Recognition Awards went to four PWC members.

Elly Spicer, a field representative for the NYC & Vicinity Carpenters Labor-Management Cooperation Trust Fund, was one of the first women foremen in the carpenter's union and the first woman to work as a full-time instructor at the Carpenters Labor Technical College. PWC Vice President Theresa Vigilante thanked Spicer for her help as a "resource of information and insights for PWC," while she, in turn, thanked PWC for its "exceptional inclusiveness of women in organized labor." She accepted the Career Achievement award "on behalf of all women in the trades."

Saw-Teen See, managing partner with Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA), a 50-person structural engineering company, was congratulated on the Professional Achievement Award by fellow PWC member Diana Chapin, First Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, and a survivor of four New York City mayoral administrations. See has worked on the San Jose Convention Center; was partner-in-charge of the Baltimore Convention Center's expansion; project director for the landmark Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame; and project manager for the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. She is currently in charge of the Shanghai World Financial Center, which will be the world's tallest building.

Lisa Lewis, associate director of construction coordination at Columbia University, received the Career Achievement Award. Lewis helps oversee Columbia University's Minority, Women and Local Business Enterprises Program, and has played a key role in developing a framework for community participation in the University's various construction projects.

Dickie Sykes, a PWC board member and assistant vice president, minority business development with AMEC Construction Management, called her "a true force on the New York contracting scene."

Suzanne Turtle Millard, the president and CEO of Turtle & Hughes (T & H), a third-generation electrical distribution firm, was honored for Business Owner Achievement. Millard pointed out that T & H, a certified woman-owned business enterprise (WBE) which was run by Millard's grandmother for 22 years and is now 65% held by women, has been in charge of the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center since 1931, and has been named one of the Top 100 Women-Owned Businesses by Working Woman magazine since 1995.

Janis concluded by thanking the audience for its support and reminding everyone that "PWC is the networking group in greater New York."

The event sponsors were: S. DiGiacomo & Sons, Inc.; IDI Construction Co., Inc.; Columbia University; Iannelli Construction Co., Inc.; IBEX Construction; J.A. Jones Construction Group; TDX Construction Corp.; and Turtle & Hughes.