{"id":214670,"date":"2026-04-01T15:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214670\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:53:10","slug":"st-petes-power-design-is-a-national-leader-for-women-in-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214670\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete’s Power Design is a national leader for women in construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

As we celebrated Women\u2019s History Month in March, we showcased the people and businesses in St. Pete who not only support equality externally, but live by it internally. As it turns out, one of Tampa Bay\u2019s biggest private employers, headquartered in north St. Pete, is the perfect example of a local company paving the way for women to excel in what has historically been a male-driven field.<\/p>\n

Power Design<\/a>\u00a0got its start as a family-owned and operated small business here in St. Pete. As it has grown into one of the nation\u2019s leading design build contractors, it has stayed true to its roots, with co-founder and co-chairman Dana Permuy leading alongside her husband Mitch Permuy since day one. In the construction industry, where women typically make up as little as a single percentage point of the workforce, Power Design is the rare company with more than just a token number of women in the workforce.<\/p>\n

In fact, Power Design is one of the most proactive in the country at providing pathways for both men and women to get into construction, no matter their background. From hands-on training programs to internal mentorship, the company fosters healthy growth for all of its employees and paves a path for women in the typically male-dominated field. It\u2019s one of the many reasons Power Design has annually been ranked among the best workplaces in America, and we\u2019re proud to call them one of our local stars.<\/p>\n

\"Women\"Women<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Power Design held its annual Women in Construction Week celebration. It was an opportunity to not only celebrate the women in the company now, but to highlight the pathways for those employees to succeed and to put a spotlight on their efforts to attract even more talent. In an economy where most companies are shrinking, Power Design is actively adding to its team year-round.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s celebration in St. Pete brought together powerhouse women from across the company for real conversations, real connections, and a lot of inspiration along the way. Women from Power Design\u2019s jobsites across the country flew down to headquarters for the empowering and high-energy gathering.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most impactful part of the Women In Construction Week was the panel discussion that brought all the women under one roof. Women in positions throughout the company spoke to their experiences, and they\u2019ve encouraged other women to look to construction as not only a viable career path, but one in which they can truly thrive.<\/p>\n

\"Women\"Women<\/p>\n

\u201cLadies, don\u2019t be intimidated by the idea of working in construction,\u201d said Erika Edwards, Senior Systems Coordinator. \u201cBe yourself, be confident, and know that you can thrive with the skills you bring to the table. I think this week is about setting that example for women to see that it\u2019s not scary to be in a male-dominated industry. It\u2019s an honor for them to see, \u2018wow, she\u2019s rockin\u2019 it in a man\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another employee noted the difference at Power Design. The company doesn\u2019t think women are better than men. Nor does it think they\u2019re worse. The key is that everyone has the opportunity to learn, to prove themselves, and to be rewarded for it.<\/p>\n

At Power Design, no one cares about your gender,\u201d said Evan Wetzel, Business Analyst. \u201cThey care that you show up every day, put your best foot forward, and are willing to learn and grow. There\u2019s no sugarcoating it; the construction industry is very demanding. It\u2019s fast-paced and often high-pressure, but it\u2019s taught me that I\u2019m a badass \u2013 that I can show up and do everything just as well as the boys, and sometimes even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see what makes Power Design such a popular place for a career.<\/p>\n

Power Design sets an industry standard<\/p>\n

As for the work of the company itself, Power Design has grown into something of a one-stop shop for construction developers. Their engineering and design-build expertise has made them one of the go-to companies across the country.<\/p>\n

Specifically, they focus on electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and systems technologies buildout for construction projects. By specializing in so many different areas (a rarity in the field), Power Design helps streamline construction processes by doing the work of what typically requires multiple contractors.<\/p>\n

\"The\"ThePhoto courtesy Power Design, Inc.<\/p>\n

Of course, while it\u2019s their professional services that make them important to their clients and partners, it\u2019s Power Design\u2019s role in the community that makes it special to St. Pete. It\u2019s a rarity in so many of Florida\u2019s growing cities to have such a large company not only headquartered locally, but founded there. Power Design is entrenched as an economic driver for the individuals and families who actually live in St. Pete and the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Power Design, and look for careers at St. Pete\u2019s largest private employer, at\u00a0powerdesigninc.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As we celebrated Women\u2019s History Month in March, we showcased the people and businesses in St. Pete who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-214670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}