Embracing Technology and Fixing the Bottom Line: Meet Columbia SC chapter, Member Alicia Mummert

“Women tend to get pigeonholed in entry level positions long after they have shown interest and ability to move into a new role,” says Alicia Mummert, founder of Mummert Business Solutions, LLC.

With more than 11 years at Nucor, a large steel producer that manufactures metal buildings for general contractors to erect, she explains that, in her experience, women have often been doing the work of higher management roles, without the title and salary. Many times, they are also expected to continue with the entry level role’s duties. “I don’t think it is intentional, but there is still a subconscious idea that women should only do these types of jobs and it is going to take time to uproot that stereotype.”

Mummert has certainly taken a big step towards eliminating the stereotype. This past year she started her own business, offering data analytics to subcontractors, auditing their job costs to find areas where they are losing money and come up with ways to reduce the loss. She does this by applying better tracking tools and conducting regular audits with the project management team.

With a bachelor’s degree in history, and a background in real estate, Mummert says she had, “ZERO interest or background in the construction industry.” But, she took the job at Nucor, and is proud of the journey she’s had. She carved her own path from an executive assistant position to an analyst role where she learned how to analyze data. Eventually, she aligned systems and processes for 10 divisions.

In order to be part of more of a local network she joined NAWIC, and it led her to a job last year analyzing data and streamlining operations for a subcontractor. That opened her eyes to the value of applying business and data analysis skills to the construction industry to greatly improve operational efficiency and profit margins.

A business idea formed and Mummert Business Solutions, LLC was created.

While doing that, she also served as the Ways and Means Committee Chair, SAR Conference Chair, Career Awareness Chair, WIC Week Chair and Civic Community Service Chair for NAWIC Columbia, SC Chapter #113.

Mummert credits NAWIC with the pivot she’s made in her career and life. “I wouldn’t have had any of the opportunities that I have had in the last year if it wasn’t for NAWIC, period. And those opportunities showed me how to move forward with my own business in a way that I could never have made happen on my own,” she says.

Her own passion for problem solving is also key to her new business venture. Finding the root cause of a cost problem in a construction project and being able to make a direct impact on a project’s bottom line, quickly, is really rewarding she says.

Fixing financial glitches won’t stop with one client or project. Mummert has big plans for the future including bringing business intelligence and automated tools to her clients. Knowing that the construction industry can be slow to embrace new technologies, she wants to educate contractors on how much value and time savings they would realize by applying these tools, even on small projects. She even has plans for her data analytics business to evolve into an AI consulting business, working with contractors to identify areas of their business that can be automated and then helping them implement the right AI tools for those automations.

For all she’s trailblazing and setting a stereotype-breaking example, Mummert says her real goal is the day when gender is a non-issue.

In the meantime, though, she wants school-aged women to take advantage of any job shadowing or vocational tech training. “You never know what you would like to do until you try it,” Mummert says. “Most of us had no idea we would end up in this industry so try anything you can to get a taste of it and see what you gravitate to!”

If you know of a NAWIC member that deserves to be recognized as a Best Person for the Job, contact us today!