[optimistic music] ALISON KURTZ: I'm Alison Kurtz.

I'm the president of Ameron Construction.

I've been in this job for 33 years next month, and it's been a lifetime of learning.

A lot of people think about construction as building a house or a building.

Heavy highway is different.

We're installing sewer, water, pretty much everything underground, and then surface level paving and concrete.

We have infrastructure that is now needing to be replaced.

And so construction is one of those jobs that you can't export.

We need boots on the ground, and we will always need to have new construction.

So I've got dirt crews, paving crews, concrete.

I've got the guys in the shop here.

We definitely maintain all of our own equipment.

We are always looking for good employees.

And we are an employee stock ownership plan company, which means that all the employees have ownership.

We put money into their stock account at the end of each year, and then the company is valued by an independent appraiser.

So if you've been here, say, five years, you might have an account balance of $60,000.

Because we've been so successful, the stock price has increased dramatically.

So we're forcing them to save for retirement by putting the money away for them.

Employees are our biggest asset.

I can go buy backhoes and trucks all day long, but to get people here and then retain them is the biggest challenge.

If we have somebody that grew up on a farm, that's always a good thing for us.

They can fix anything.

They're used to hard work, getting up early, being pretty much self-sufficient.

So it's hard to find the school side of the education process.

There is a need for both technical training and in the field, and it's just a little bit different in a controlled setting like a school versus being out in the real world, with electric lines and trenches.

We strive to create that balance.

People have often asked me whether being a woman in construction is a liability or an asset.

It's hard physical work.

If I have women in the field, it's great.

There are more women, more in maybe the construction management side of things, but the social norms have shifted to more gender equality.

So there are opportunities for young guys and gals to come in, start working in the field, and then work into a leadership position.

How long that could take is just a function of their skill ability and what are our current needs for different positions.

I want to give everybody the opportunity to excel in this company.

I have a little sticker on my hard hat that says "I heart dirt."

It's a good life.

[upbeat music]