Horrocks Engineers Receives Regional WTS Employer of the Year Award

On Thursday, January 31, Horrocks Engineers was honored as Employer of the Year at the annual gala for the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene region of WTS International. WTS International is an organization that aims to strengthen the transportation industry by advancing women with careers in transportation. Its members include men and women that work together for equity and access in the field of transportation.

The chapter’s second awards gala gathered 96 attendees, including Washington State Secretary of Transportation, Roger Millar. Horrocks was represented by Ron Mortimer (Board member) and Karie Davidson (Associate Engineer).

Karie Davidson (center) and Ron Mortimer (right) accept WTS Employer of the Year award on behalf of Horrocks Engineers, presented by Tim Ike (left) of J-U-B Engineers at the second annual awards gala.

The Employer of the Year award is given to a company that provides career development and advancement opportunities for women within their organization, supports the professional growth of their employees, encourages women to enter the transportation field through internship opportunities, and supports WTS at local and international levels.

Horrocks recognizes that women are an important part of any successful work place and, as a company, tries to improve upon gender diversity. After inviting former Utah State Senator and current CEO of the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI), Patricia Jones, to speak to them about gender intelligence and the  benefits of closing the gender gap within our industry, Horrocks accepted the WLI ElevateHER challenge. As part of this challenge, Horrocks pledged to improve gender diversity and change policies to meet those commitments.

Horrocks also created a gender intelligence committee in April 2018. The committee is tasked with implementing a positive and inclusive environment for women to work and grow within the company and industry. Committee members are now working on goals for the recruitment and retention of female employees while continuing existing internship, scholarship, and sponsorship activities related to those goals.

As Horrocks works to fulfill this commitment to improve gender diversity within our organization and the transportation industry, we look forward to applying the innovations that are fostered by a diverse workforce. We are honored to receive this recognition as Employer of the Year from WTS International.