Women In Land Development - WILD About Building Your World

WILD History
By, Pat Shaurette – October 2008

In July 2005 – Lori North and Jane Hendrickson sat together in Jane’s office. They had just met, and were comparing notes on who they each knew in the business. My name was mentioned (I don’t know how kindly J), and it was speculated that there MUST be other women in the City who were also involved, in one capacity or another, in land development. Men in the business have their golf outings - - wouldn’t it be interesting to get the women together?

Well, Lori called me, and I called a dozen others, and on August 30, 2005, WILD was born at a breakfast meeting at LePeep with 6 people around the table.

The acronym was in place even before that first meeting - - I scribbled several ideas out (still have the paper in my file) - - WWDG (Women Who Develop Ground), WWDD (Women Who Dig Dirt), WWGB (Women Who Golf Badly – didn’t know how wrong that was), WWDB (Women With Dirty Boots) - - - but I think you will agree, WILD (Women In Land Development) was the most fun and descriptive.

We decided rather quickly that lunchtime would be a more crowd-friendly gathering time (since, of course, women are busier in the morning than men are), so lunch gatherings followed. By that October, we had 13 attendees and we were off and running. Our current “membership” list numbers over 40!

While there is seldom a specific agenda, the meetings provide an open forum for information that is both candid and timely. We share experiences, ideas, concerns and triumphs. Many e-mails requests have been met with immediate response giving product reviews, contractor references, or other business related support.

We have also welcomed new babies, endured the loss of jobs, supported members through personal health trials, and mourned with members who have lost loved ones.

We have celebrated three years together, and look forward to many more!

Welcome to WILD!




Membership Profile

There is a wide breadth of experience represented in the organization, both professionally and personally.

We have within our ranks W/DBE business owners, Architects, Certified Planners, CPA’s, Attorneys, and Engineers. Collectively, we have expertise in every aspect of Land Development from site acquisition and entitlement, through project management and turnover.

Our employment profile spans the private and public sectors, with representation including commercial and residential development companies, general contractors, public utilities, Municipal and County Governments, banking, surety and risk management, design and consulting engineers, professional consulting and product supply.

Our members regularly show up on the business pages of trade magazines and the Indianapolis Business Journal. But our membership has also expanded beyond Indianapolis, and now includes members in Ohio and North Carolina.

We range in tenure from over 30 years of experience in the industry to just over 30 years of age. We take our mentoring role very seriously, always opening the door to the newest members of the field. Many of us have participated in more structured mentoring programs, through community outreach and educational communities.

Personally, we are a richly and diversely talented group - - singers, musicians, artists, athletes, actors - - even a clown! We rejoice in our differences and in the common themes that have brought us together.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

April meeting notes

Hope everyone has enjoyed this glorious spring weekend!
Thanks again to Liz Hobbs and Shoopman Homes for hosting last Thursday's WILD luncheon. We had a good turn out, delicious lunch and lively discussions.
One topic of conversation was Veolia's current plan to revert back to the "bad old days" and require that new water lines be installed by the water company instead of the private developer, once again taking the control of timing and costs out of the hands of the development community. Liz is currently on the BAGI Government Affairs committee - if you would like to know more about who to address your concerns to, please let us know and maybe Liz can give us a link to go to.
Jamie Ford talked about working on the Extreme Makeover house with Estridge and hundreds of volunteers. The episode will air on May 17th (I understand it is to be a two hour season finale).
Finally, I think Karen Powers has something up her sleeve for the month of May. Details to follow.
If you have any news to add to these updates, let's try to get things going on the BLOG again. . . http://womeninlanddevelopment.blogspot.com - sign on to follow and you can post comments.
Pat
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

January e-notes

Good Morning - Hope everyone has successfully dug themselves out (again).
Friday was not a bad day as January goes, and we had a very enjoyable lunch at the offices of Simons Bitzer PC (thanks Raegan and Barb Bitzer). After Barb gave us a summary of her business involvement, we immediately added her to the mailing list - - welcome Barb!
For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out on a delicious lunch catered by Qdoba, and some very special goody bags put together by Raegan.
No real news except for the continued revolving doors in our industry. . . perhaps the spring thaw will bring better prospects.
For February, I wanted to float a trial balloon - - I was wondering if you would be interested in an after-hours Mardi Gras gathering at my home (since it hasn't sold, I may as well party) - - I was thinking:
Monday, February 23 - 5:30 - 8:00 (or whenever you can get there)
I'd do po-boys (how appropriate) and rich cakes (tradition) - and have the rest be BYOB/appetizer/or nothing but yourself.
Let me know if you think this would work, otherwise, I'll plan a more traditional get together for lunch late this month.
Julie Petree has volunteered for the March luncheon at her office - - get your car pool plans in order.
Stay warm and safe,
Pat
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