Women at Bemas

Jasmine Garcia built Bemas’s safety program from the ground up. A Colorado native, she joined the Bemas family at the tender age of 17. At the time, she was working in food service with plans to become an architect, but it turns out designing buildings wasn’t what she wanted to do. Her dad was a residential remodeler and she’d been around construction all her life. So when Ron called her for an interview, she was ready to jump into the world of heavy civil to see what it might hold for her.

She started out by helping project managers with locates. That’s where you identify the utility lines in the area so that crews can excavate safely. Jasmine still does those, and also manages the entire safety program. She’s been able to continue her education through the National Safety Committee with Bemas’ full support.
2020 was a good year for safety, even with the pandemic. With safety, “no day is the same, you have to be on your toes, so that’s definitely the fun part.” Having a family-oriented workplace means a lot to Jasmine, because she’s a mother of a 13-year-old girl. Jasmine’s a firm believer in working together to overcome, in and out of the workplace.

Her advice to the younger generations of women considering a construction career? “Don’t be afraid. It’s a lot of work. Working with men is very straightforward. You can’t take anything personal, it’s business.”

Nickie Roberts likes to dance. Line dancing, country dancing, whatever you’ve got. She’s a big fan of local music, too. She recognizes the hard-working musician as a peer rather than a star, and does what she can to support local performers.

When she’s not discovering new songwriting talent or riding her Harley to Sturgis, she’s working sunup to sundown operating equipment for our processing crew. In a nutshell, the processing crew gets everything ready for the other teams. They put the finishing touches on things and make everything look beautiful.

Being on the processing crew means Nickie often has to work weekends when the weather is favorable. Colorado weather can be so finicky, so having a crew full of people who are ready to do the work is crucial to our success on each project.

Before coming over to Bemas, Nickie was working in Plasma. “I wanted to do something more; I wanted to be engaged in what I was doing and be more physical.” Nickie had a friend who had been with Bemas for almost 18 years, so when she heard about the try-outs on a Friday night, she didn’t hesitate. “The only experience I had was driving a vehicle and a motorcycle,” she said, “but I tried out on a Friday and started on a Monday!”

She just celebrated her 8th anniversary at Bemas. She may not have expected to be here as long as she has, but she found a home at Bemas and surprised herself by how much she loves her work. “I love being outside. I get to see a job start to finish, and I get to be outside every day.”