Bishop-Wisecarver President Recognized with Women in Manufacturing STEP Award
Pamela Kan Joined 121 Other Woman Honorees at Award Ceremony in Washington D.C.
Pittsburg, CA -- Pamela Kan, Bishop-Wisecarver Group President, was recently recognized by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers with a Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award for her excellence and leadership in manufacturing.
Kan and 121 other woman honorees, representing all levels of manufacturing from the factory floor to the C Suite, were awarded at a ceremony held in Washington D.C. last week.
"We are thrilled that Pamela Kan's contributions to Bishop-Wisecarver Group were recognized by this important new initiative," said Mike McVeigh, Vice President of Marketing at Bishop-Wisecarver Group, a WBENC certified woman-owned manufacturer. "Having recently expanded our engineering and manufacturing services, it's through Pamela's leadership and her forward-thinking philosophies that have resulted in long-term company viability."
Kan holds leadership positions through several other organizations such as Appointee to the California State Workforce Investment Board and Vice Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Council, California Manufacturers and Technology Association since 2007 and Chair since 2012, National Association of Manufacturers Board of Directors since 2004, Women Impacting Public Policy since 2010, Industrial Association of Contra Costa County since 2007, Women's President Organization since 2007, Power Transmission Distributor Association since 2004, and Association for High Technology Distribution since 2004.
"These 122 women are the faces of exciting careers in manufacturing," said Jennifer McNelly, President of The Manufacturing Institute. "We chose to honor these women because they each made significant achievements in manufacturing through positive impact on their company and the industry as a whole."
The STEP Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative launched by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and best practices for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent.
"The STEP Ahead initiative was founded to change perceptions of the manufacturing industry and create new opportunities for women in the sector," said Latondra Newton, group vice president at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and chairwoman of the STEP Ahead initiative. "This initiative is the call for action to transform the face of today's manufacturing talent and ensure that women can contribute to the future of this industry."
A 2011 survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that nearly 70 percent of American manufacturing companies have a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers. Manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions, even as unemployment numbers hover at historically high levels. Additionally, labor statistics show that women are underrepresented in the manufacturing workforce and in manufacturing leadership ranks - a situation that must be reversed to preserve and grow the industry.
On February 5, The Manufacturing Institute and its STEP Ahead initiative partners recognized the 122 recipients of the STEP Awards at a reception in Washington, D.C. The STEP Awards program highlighted each honoree's story, including their leadership and accomplishments in manufacturing.
For more information on the STEP awards, visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org. To learn more about Bishop-Wisecarver Group, visit www.bwc.com. To keep up with Pamela Kan online, visit her blog at pamelakan.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/peekan.
