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Association of Women in the Metal Industries Hosts Annual Conference in Denver

12/31/2012 - A gathering of nearly 150 metals industry professionals assembled in the Mile-High City at the Association of Women in the Metal Industries' annual conference in November to network, share ideas, interact with industry leaders and learn about the latest developments impacting their businesses.

The Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) held its annual conference on 15–17 November 2012 at the Westin Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colo. A gathering of nearly 150 metals industry professionals, the vast majority of them women, assembled in the Mile-High City to network, share ideas, interact with industry leaders and learn about the latest developments impacting their businesses.
Lisa Pauley, senior vice president, human resources and administration at Ball Corp., gave a spirited keynote presentation at the opening dinner on 15 November, speaking on “Sustainable journeys: evolving for long-term success.” Pauley gave an overview of Ball Corp. and how it has grown over the years. She also provided conference attendees a spirited discussion on leadership and the importance of building trust-based relationships in business. “You don’t have to be in a leadership position to be a leader,” she told attendees. She urged the attendees to respect everybody, maintain composure at all times, be introspective, acquire business acumen, to network and to change, adapt and take risks. “Risk brings opportunity. Take risks,” she encouraged the ladies in attendance.
Also at the dinner, the AWMI honored its 2011 Member of the Year, Donna Peters of ArcelorMittal USA. The Member of the Year is the highest honor awarded by AWMI and is selected by AWMI members for exemplifying the association’s goals of education, mentoring, networking and growth. Ms. Peters, a member of AWMI’s Chicago chapter, had served as AWMI international treasurer since 2008 and will be taking on the role of international vice president for the 2013–2014 term. She has worked for ArcelorMittal USA since 2006 and is currently process manager — commercial support for the company. Ms. Peters began her career with Jones & Laughlin Steel in 1977 and progressed through various roles of increasing responsibility, becoming a technical sales representative in 1998 with what was then LTV Steel. She left LTV in 2001 to work with Straightline Steel, and she also spent time at Stainless Sales Corp. in Chicago as quality assurance manager before joining ArcelorMittal.
On Friday, 16 November, Katie Groke Ellis, national program manager for the White House Project, gave a keynote address on “Women in Leadership.” The White House Project seeks to promote the leadership of women in business and politics, and Ms. Groke Ellis gave an energetic call to action, urging the women in attendance to run for any kind of leadership position. In addition, she urged the ladies to find other women to mentor and sponsor, women who have the potential to be more than they are right now. “Bring other women up with you,” she urged.
The metals panel portion of the conference featured speakers from ATI Allegheny Ludlum, United States Steel Corporation, Alcoa and the United States Mint. The panel spoke of pent-up demand within the steel industry, shale resources providing opportunities for metals, and the need to make recycling “as normal as putting on your seatbelt,” among other things.
An afternoon keynote session by Timna Tanners, research analyst, metals and mining at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, highlighted the unprecedented volatility within the steel industry, which has been exacerbated by the greater flow of information as well as the post-China boom heralding oversupply.
An energy panel held in the afternoon gave speakers from the wind, natural gas and solar industries the opportunity to provide conference attendees an overview of their industries and the potential use for steel and other metals there.
The association held its business meeting during the Friday luncheon, noting its 9% year-on-year growth in membership to a total of 1,085 members in 2012. Ladies running for certain AWMI international officer positions pleaded their cases to the members in attendance, stating why they would like to serve on the international board. It was later disclosed that Tamela Olt of SSAB Americas was elected international president, Donna Peters of ArcelorMittal USA as international vice president, Mary Pollen of Michigan Seamless Tube as international marketing chair, Victoria Zanutto-Kautz of Ryerson as international mentoring chair, Karen Davidock of U. S. Steel as central regional director, Tara Sprenger of Ryerson as southern regional director, and Mary Wardele of Steelscape as western regional director.
The AWMI will host its next conference in Nashville, Tenn., 13–17 November 2013. For more information on AWMI, visit www.awmi.org.