With a focus on people, KCW Engineering Technologies, Inc. president and CEO Kim Groves builds her business by investing in tomorrow.
The Glen Burnie firm hosted a Young Enterprising Women Mentorship Forum at Anne Arundel Community College for 35 young women from local STEM high school programs, culminating in a $2,500 award for two students and the opportunity to attend the Enterprising Women Conference in Florida.
Finalists Lucille Kopin, of South River High School, and Noelle Dunn, of Old Mill High School, were chosen based on their applications and interviews by the panel. South River High School’s Daniela Pena and Britney Castle of North County High School were runners-up and were given the opportunity to job-shadow at KCW.
“My partner Melissa Walker and I know it’s important to give back in a variety of ways,” Groves explained. “For me, personally and professionally, I have a need to concentrate my calling and figure out the way and desire to implement mentoring to give back something tangible.”
For Groves and Walker, hosting the panel was a bit like coming full-circle — the two were winners of the 2019 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for the “over $10M and up to $25M in annual sales” category.
As a business owner looking to hire local individuals, Groves said she was excited to see all the ways the county is encouraging STEM professionals, and the way teachers advocate for their students.
A partnership was formed with Anne Arundel County Public Schools, including students in North County and South River High Schools’ STEM magnet programs, Old Mill and Glen Burnie high schools and the Center for Applied Technology North (CAT-N).
Kopin said as a junior and upperclassman in the STEM magnet program, she heads up recruiting for the program by mentoring to younger students and talking with them about the program. Pena, a freshman, said she’s looking forward to having the opportunity as she advances.
Groves said she and Walker were beyond impressed with the students they interviewed, who juggle high-level honors and AP classes, and extra-curricular such as sports, volunteering, clubs or music.
“The application was formulated with questions that would be telling of who we were looking for,” Groves said. “We were looking for someone who has a passion for moving their career forward in STEM, in both tangible and intangible ways.”
The intangible ways were the soft-skills Groves referred to — juggling many different aspects of life — and the panel was looking for students who were opened to being mentored.
“There are different ways of looking at opportunities in life, and we were looking for young ladies who embody and understand that every given day there are moments and opportunities to learn,” Groves said. “When I think of me when I was 18 — these girls are just killing it.”
Pena and Castle said they thought the experience was great, and they enjoyed hearing the women’s stories.
“I especially liked the part at the end where we could talk one-on-one,” Pena said. “We got to hear the cool stories from all the women — like Dr. Brown, who has been in STEM since middle school. When kids are younger, it doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a man, so it’s important that they’re doing STEM things from a young age.”
Castle said by hearing the stories and having questions answered, she was better able to see the paths the ladies took, and how she might be able to get there.
“Being in a room with all women who are community leaders was very empowering,” Castle said. “It’s not every day you get to hear from women in STEM and have that connection – it’s great to have those mentor relationships for everyone there to take advantage of.”
“It showed me there are many ways to get to where you want to go in engineering – you just have to be determined and never give up,” Dunn said, noting there are many different types of engineers.
Dunn said she was stunned when one school counselor told her she was too pretty to pursue STEM and recommended cosmetology instead.
Pena, who is pursuing a dual-pathway in green technology and computer science, said many more girls can be found in disciplines such as environmental science because it’s got the stigma of a softer touch — although the stigma is inaccurate.
“It’s something we just learn when we’re younger — that there are more masculine types of classes,” Pena said.
Groves said it can be difficult to make the decision to pursue a career when a girl hasn’t seen someone doing that job who looks like her, which is why it’s critical to interact with an older generation of females who currently are successful in those careers.
KCW offered a full-time position on a variety of projects dealing with CAD (computer-aided design) to Castle beginning in summer, which Castle said is a wonderful opportunity. She said civil engineering was not something she pictured herself involved in, but after being around the women and opening her mind, it’s definitely something that has piqued her interest.
Groves said she is proud of how KCW’s inaugural year in partnership with the school system has begun and grown.
“These things can’t stop with us — mentorship can’t stop with me — it has to be woven into the culture in KCW,” Groves said. “In everyone’s career, we all have champs. I’ve been blessed to have both men and women, but the bulk are male. It’s a male-dominated profession, and we’re looking for people to invest in, to impart knowledge on and turn that into opportunities to share the knowledge.”
