Meet Joan Bremer of Rosendin Electric
For Joan Bremer, Vendor Program Manager at Rosendin Electric, construction is a family affair.
Bremer was introduced to the trades at an early age. Her father, who recently stepped down from a regional VP position at Rosendin, spent 35 years at the company. Her brother-in-law is also currently employed at Rosendin. She found a passion for the industry at a young age.
“When I was in middle school, my dad used to take me to the job site, and I would help him count fixtures off of blueprints,” Bremer tells Highwire. “He’d give me one of those little clickers, and I would sit there and highlight and help him out.”
From finance to subcontractor management
An employee-owned company of more than 8,500 employees, Rosendin is one of the largest electrical contractors in the world. Bremer will mark eight years with the company this summer. Having spent her first several years in the finance department, she moved over to a department that oversees the company’s supplier subcontractor program management, where she has been for the last four years.
Rosendin didn’t have a prequalification program before Bremer moved into her role in subcontractor procurement. Joan started using Highwire alongside her team to reduce the manual burden of subcontractor prequalification forms.
In collaboration with finance and safety, Rosendin’s vendor management team needed a better way to assess subcontractor risk as the company grew. They faced a period of growth that challenged them to no longer rely on a paper process. The organization needed to know what risks their subcontractors presented and how to mitigate them and make their projects safer.
As Rosendin’s exponential growth continues, Bremer is at the forefront, ensuring every subcontractor is assessed in Highwire and working directly with them to improve before they step on site.
“Joan manages hundreds of contractors and dozens of ongoing projects alongside finance, safety, and project executives. We’ve watched Rosendin grow through the work Joan expertly facilitates through Highwire.” – Kate Sarno, Account Manager at Highwire
A voice for women in the industry
In addition to being a driving force for Rosendin’s journey to becoming fully equipped with Highwire’s safety and risk management systems, Bremer is also passionate about the advancement of women in the trades.
“Seeing how many women in the company have been promoted to executive levels has been really inspiring,” Bremer says.
Bremer, who also serves as the secretary of the National Association of Women in Construction’s Silicon Valley (NAWIC) chapter, notes that Rosendin has fully embraced an industry-wide effort to foster greater diversity and inclusivity. She says that, in addition to supporting the advancement of women into leadership positions, the company offers more internal training that covers important DEI initiatives.
On her own, Bremer has championed NAWIC’s mission within the country, which has resulted in 15 other Rosendin employees from across the company registering with the national organization. (As well as an employee of Highwire!)
“We have multiple NAWIC officers within Rosendin … so we’re making our way into the leadership of NAWIC with support from the company,” she says.
In addition to her role as secretary for NAWIC, Bremer also devotes her free time to organizing reunions for her graduating class, community drives, and fundraising activities for the San Francisco Bay Area Jeep Association.
Her advice to other women looking to join the trades? Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back.
“We should not be afraid to be wrong,” she says. “The farther you get in your career, the more you realize that not everyone knows what they’re doing. I think it’s important just to be confident in yourself and do your best.”
