SNAPSHOTS
INCLUSION & DIVERSITY
Company I & D Spotlight : Santee Metal Works , LLC
Like many AAMD Members , Santee Metal Works owners Tonya and Travis Storovich bring a unique approach and perspective to being inclusive in the industry .
How do you define inclusion & diversity ?
Embracing all persons to better our company , our work environment , and keeping an inclusive atmosphere where all opinions and thoughts are considered . Coming from the reservation ( Travis ) and being a woman ( Tonya ) owned business we have had limited opportunities .
With our company we look at the core of our company beginning with our founders . Travis is Native American and our company is named after his reservation in Nebraska . Life on the reservation was very hard and offered very few opportunities to improve oneself .
We believe that bringing people from different backgrounds , genders , and ethnicity helps our business relate and be relatable to as many people as possible . We believe no matter who you are or where you came from if you
can do the job you are who we want working with us .
What specific initiatives have you started to help your associates in these aspects ?
We do a program called " Be a Buddy " this is where our more seasoned employees adopt one of our new persons to help train them and help them understand that " no one person has all the answers , share your ideas and perhaps better way of doing things ." We recognize and applaud our cultural differences by talking about them and making a comfortable work place for our team .
What are you planning for the future of your initiatives ?
We have been reaching out to the high schools and school counselors to offer opportunities to those who may not be built for college or cannot afford college .
We offer paid internships to help grow our youth and give them a trade that they will have for life . We also work with the second chance initiative schools for teens at risk to help them learn a trade and show them there is a future beyond what they thought .
What ideas do you have to improve this initiative in the apartment industry ?
It starts with the youth . We need to teach our youth about acceptance and judgement . As humans have what we call ‘ personalities ’. Our personality and our experiences are what make us who we are . We are all unique and we all have our faults and our strengths . I wrote and teach the class " From Apathy to Empathy " which shows those that attend a real look at how we should and can embrace our differences and use them to create a more accepting and open industry .
Do you have any success stories you can share about your Denver teams ?
We had a great intern named Tyler , who was so driven ! She had a hard time getting into the trades , being a woman .
We offered her a paid internship and helped grow her skills in welding and her confidence as a trade person . She did end up leaving us to move to Wyoming to work on a large cattle farm taking her skill set with her . www . aamdhq . org NOV / DEC 2023 TRENDS | 15