The Community College Petrochemical Initiative (CCPI) recently hosted its third annual Women in Industry Conference to its largest and sold-out crowd of more than 800 attendees. The forum, held at Moody Gardens in Galveston, gave women — including area high school and college students, and unemployed or underemployed individuals –an opportunity to discover a wide variety of career options available in the petrochemical and construction trades industries. Representatives from area industry including ExxonMobil, Dow, Chevron Phillips, INEOS, LyondellBasell, NolTex, Jacobs, Educate Texas, BASF, Zachry, and Freeport LNG Development spoke with students and delivered keynote speeches. College representatives also provided the latest information on degree and certificate options for related fields, financial aid processes and more.

In addition to learning about careers by visiting booths from industry and colleges, the highlight of the conference was hearing directly from powerful women who have been successful in industry. Kym Richards, ExxonMobil Baytown Olefins Plant Machinist, encouraged the attendees during the morning’s panel session. “Never stop learning,” Richards said.  “I wanted a career, a home, benefits and to be independent in order to take care of my family so I went back to school to better myself.” Richards further urged the ladies in the crowd to “set long-term goals and know there is nothing that you can’t do once you put your mind to it.”

To learn more about careers in the industry, visit PetrochemWorks.com.