1. WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION
Lori Gobert, Murphy Construction, Pemberton, BC
Encouraging others to
consider construction careers
Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature
Lori Gobert has applied her administrative and
accounting background towards a construction industry
career. She is now general manager with Murphy
Construction of Pemberton, B.C.
“I started working with Murphy as a contract book-
keeper when it was just a staff of five,” says Gobert.
She later sold her bookkeeping business and joined
the company full-time, progressing from office adminis-
trator and project co-ordinator to operations manager
before becoming general manager.
“The owner of Murphy has always been very support-
ive of continuing education and of me developing my
career,” Gobert said. “I’ve taken courses through the
CHBA (Canadian Home Builders’ Association) and the
PMI (Pro- ject Management Institute) to acquire the
skills and knowledge I need.”
Gobert says she has never been discouraged by any-
one she works with or she has come across in her work.
She has seen a few questioning glances but these
quickly disappear. “Whether it’s construction or some-
thing else business is business and knowledge and skill
aren’t gender related.”
Her networking opportunities have been limited in the
small community in B.C.’s Sea to Sky Region from
Horseshoe Bay through Whistler to the Pemberton
Valley. However, she says she has found support
through a local association for women in business.
Working with successful female entrepreneurs and
business women gives her the opportunity to share
ideas, solve problems and connect with peers.
She says that small-community environment means
work and personal life often intertwine. She says she is
fortunate to enjoy the people she works with and for and
looks forward to the challenges and successes they
share.
Gobert appreciates the continually changing and
evolving construction industry and encourages young
people, male and female, to consider careers in the
industry both on the trades and management side.
“When people think about a career in construction the
conver- sation shouldn’t be why would they consider it
but why not,” she says.
48 – Summer 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report