Guest Blog: Apparatus Contractor Services

We are so excited to announce Apparatus Contractor Services, LLC to the women of our contracting and trades industry! Apparatus is a suite of back office services for small contracting companies, general contractors, independent and subcontractors, and tradeswomen (and men!).

Through months of preparation, we’ve put together three month-to-month subscription-based programs. Each one offers critical business services including administrative assistance, accounting, payroll, marketing, and more. We’re the first of our kind in the Portland area: a comprehensive digital support solution for contractors.  We offer our subscription services to contractors locally and nationally.

Apparatus is the end-result of a careful examination of the challenges faced by growing contracting companies. Companies made of, or ran by, people just like you!  We believe that the three programs we offer will be a testament to Apparatus’ skill for process and service design. Most importantly, our willingness and determination to really understand the needs of our future contractor clients.

As the marketing manager, I was witness to the challenges we faced building Apparatus (building a business is hard work!). We wanted to resist the temptation to design the services we thought we should offer.  Instead, we listened carefully to what we heard contractors tell us they need. We incorporated this feedback until we felt we had a product that would really help people as they start, grow, and scale their contracting businesses.

Here is a brief overview of the services each program provides:

 

  • Apparatus Start! Program™ is intended to set and reinforce your business’s foundation through entity formation assistance, compliance management, document management, and full-service accounting and payroll.
  • Apparatus Grow! Program™ incorporates all the features of Start! and adds business identity and branding as well as opportunities to enhance the professionalism of a contracting business through estimates and full proposals.
  • Apparatus Scale! Program™ incorporates all the features of Start! and Grow! and adds an extensive suite of marketing and client management tools and services.

 

We also offer a variety of a la carte services available alongside each service package. We built these options out to encompass a broader range of need form our clients. The options include, but are not limited to, LLC formation assistance, contractor licensing assistance, and notices of right to a lien. As we grow, we look forward to evolving to meet the needs of our contractor client base.

Beyond unveiling our company, we’re also on a mission to get to know our contracting community better. We’re proud members of the Master Builders Association of Seattle, The Home Builders Associate of Portland and of course, Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.! I love hearing from local contractors and encourage any woman, either aspiring in her career or established, to reach out and start a conversation.

 

Until next time!

 

Erin Lehmann, Marketing Manager

Apparatus Contractor Services, LLC

erinlehmann@ApparatusTeam.com

503-833-2888

 

About Apparatus Contractor Services, LLC:   Apparatus Contractor Services, LLC was designed to power the back offices of small and large subcontractors and general contractors.  Their back office services are tailored to the unique needs of contracting companies seeking to start, grow, and scale to their true potential.

https://www.ApparatusTeam.com

 

Easy Ways to Support Oregon Tradeswomen

Hard to believe it, but it’s already November, which means Thanksgiving might as well be tomorrow and Christmas the week after that! The holidays probably have you in one of two camps: thrilled at the thought of getting cozy, spending time with family (biological and chosen!), and coming up with the perfect little something for your loved ones OR terrified at the mere thought of being within 100 yards of a Target parking lot.

The cherry on top, or silver lining, depending on which side you’re on, is that this holiday season you can support Oregon Tradeswomen with minimal effort and at no additional cost to you just by shopping on Amazon or at Fred Meyer. That’s right – free money for Oregon Tradeswomen and the revolutionary program that’s changing lives!

How does it work? For Amazon purchases, simply visit tradeswomen.net/donate to access our AmazonSmile portal and connect your account to Oregon Tradeswomen by logging in to your Amazon account. Then, just shop as you normally would. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to Oregon Tradeswomen!

To support us through the Fred Meyer Community Rewards program, just link your Freddie’s reward card to Oregon Tradeswomen (instructions can be found at tradeswomen.net/donate) and we’ll receive a quarterly donation. You will still receive 100% of your earned rewards!  

At Oregon Tradeswomen even small gifts lead to big impact. Our deepest gratitude goes out to all our supporters who generously donate their time, energy, and financial support to making rewarding, living-wage careers for women in the construction trades a reality.

Thank you for supporting Oregon Tradeswomen!

Women Build Nations 2017

This past October, a few of Oregon Tradeswomen’s finest flew to The Windy City of Chicago to attend Women Build Nations, a conference for tradeswomen to address industry issues and to learn from each other. More than 1,500 women from all over the US and the world to talk about their trade, to network and connect with other tradeswomen.

Women of all ages, skill levels, and trades had the opportunity to check out a wide variety of workshops such as:

  • Anti-Oppression 101: Building Solidarity by Breaking Down Bigotry
  • Tradeswomen’s History: Learning From the Past to Change the Future
  • Rising to a Leadership Role in the Union: Examples and Advice
  • Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Letting Go of Feeling Like a ‘Fraud’

Oregon Tradeswomen pre-apprenticeship graduate and Journeyman Laborer, Vanessa Enos, and Isis Harris, IBEW, both received “Emerging Tradeswomen Leaders” scholarships to attend the conference and also had the honor of speaking on a tradeswomen panel, “Perspectives from the Field.” Lori Baumann, Journeyman Laborer, Liuna Field Representative, and Oregon Tradeswomen Board Member came to represent Laborers Local 737.

Other friends of Oregon Tradeswomen, Donna Hammond and Bridget Quinn from IBEW Local 48, spoke on a panel focused on recruitment and outreach of women and people of color.

This conference spoke to the needs of women in the trades and truly fostered a space where tradeswomen could be themselves and feel a camaraderie with other women who are having many of the same experiences in their careers. When only 3% of all trades positions nationwide are filled by women, the existence of an event, for tradeswomen, by tradeswomen is of utmost importance.

Thank you Chicago Women in Trades for organizing Women Build Nations 2017, and we can’t wait to see you all next year in Seattle!

Oregon Tradeswomen is in the Give!Guide!

We are honored to have been selected for inclusion in the 2017 Willamette Week Give!Guide!, and we’re in great company – 148 other local nonprofit organizations doing great work are also featured in this special campaign!

The Willamette Week Give!Guide started in 2004 with a goal of engaging younger Portlanders and encouraging them get in the healthy habit of end of year giving to local organizations that make our community a better place to live.

To inspire giving, donors who give between $10 and $999 receive a code to access your incentives in the Chinook Book mobile app. The incentives range from discount coupons to free ice cream and coffee. Donors who make a gift of $1,000 or more will receive bags filled with incentives delivered to their home!

As we approach the season of giving, we hope you’ll think of Oregon Tradeswomen and help us provide training and opportunities for women to build and strengthen their lives.

 

Big Give Days

To encourage donors, the Willamette Week Give!Guide also hosts a raffle on certain days and anyone who makes a donation of $10 or more is entered to win one of the BIG PRIZES!

November 9
A $500 shopping spree at Powell’s Books

November 13
Anyone 35 & under who gives on this day is entered to win a $250 gift certificate to Tender Loving Empire, a basket of TLE goodies, five autographed copies of their latest vinyl and four tickets to any 2018 show headlined by a TLI artist!

November 16
Two nights at Brasada Ranch in a luxury suite and a round of golf.

November 30
Two VIP tickets and early entry to the Portugal the Man show at McMenamains’ Crystal Ballroom on 12/17, plus:
+A Euro Queen hotel room at the Crystal Hotel
+ $80 worth of dinner and breakfast vouchers at the Zeus Café
+ A FREE taster tray in the Annex
+ FREE pool and shuffleboard in Ringlers Pub.

December 4
Anyone 35 & under who gives on this day is entered to win a Sony Alpha a6300 camera and a 16-50 zoom lens from Pro Photo Supply.

December 7
One lucky donor will win a Trek FX bike from Bike Gallery

December 14
Two tickets to the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver game, two tickets to the Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia game and a jersey signed by Evan Turner.

December 21
A 60-person Salt & Straw ice cream and ping pong party at Pips & Bounce.

December 28
The Oregon Cultural Trust challenges donors to “Give Big and Get Out” across this amazing state of ours by offering a vacation package! Visit giveguide.org for details

Thank You to Danner Boots!

If you don’t know Danner, they are a Portland based company that has been manufacturing work boots for 85 years! They began as a small group of 12 people in the logging town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, hand-making affordable work boots for the loggers. As logging in the Pacific Northwest kept growing, Danner moved to Portland to meet the demand. Danner manufactured boots for the US military during World War II and in the 1960s and 1970s, they started a new line of boots and shoes for the growing interest in outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, and mountain-climbing. Danner even developed and patented a waterproof boot using GORE-TEX ® fabric! Danner has always strived to be ahead of the game and we are so grateful that we have the privilege to partner with such an incredible local company.

Recently, we reached out to them with a request for specific boots which would allow our pre-apprenticeship students to participate in a new welding training offering, Danner stepped up like champs!  Danner immediately provided a full size run of their wonderful Quarry USA boots. Our students were beyond thrilled when they received a fresh new pairs of boots, both stylish and industry appropriate.

In addition to the generous boots for our pre-apprenticeship students, Danner gave us “Friends and Family passes” to their stores which equates to a generous 40% discount! It warms our hearts when local businesses and members of our community want to pay it forward. It shows us that they value the work that we do and support these incredible women who are taking bold steps to change their own lives.

We’re excited to announce that the first 15 people who sign up as a member of Oregon Tradeswomen in the month of November will receive a “Friends and Family pass” to do their own shopping with Danner.

Thank you, Danner! We are grateful for your continued partnership and your great generosity.