SUB SPO T L IGHT


A Marvella Steel Placers project above Cal Poly.


Marvella Steel Placers Shows Power of Perseverance, Industry Partnerships


BY CAROL EATON G 20


rit, determination, and a willing- ness to learn and to hustle – not just for contracts but also for


industry resources and support – are some of the qualities that helped Jacqueline “Jacque” Pruitt successfully grow her small business, Marvella Steel Placers, over the past nine years. Pruitt first entered the construction


industry in 2008-09, when she participat- ed in the Century Freeway Pre-appren- ticeship Program. She had been inspired to pursue a career in the construction trades by a friend who was working in the


CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025


industry and making five or six times the money Pruitt was at that time as a drug and alcohol counselor. “I said, where do I sign up?” she re-


called. During her eight-week pre-appren- ticeship program, Pruitt discovered she had a knack for tying rebar. Not knowing much else about it, but willing to learn, she decided to specialize in iron work – a choice that put her squarely in the mi- nority of the typical worker in that trade sector, as an African American female. Finding a company that was willing to sponsor her into the ironworker’s union


and onto her first job took four months of full-time outreach to local contractors and countless rejections. “I was getting hung up on, being told that women don’t belong, literally every day,” Pruitt said. But finally, someone took a chance


on Pruitt and sponsored her to work on a bridge project in Southern California. She began her apprenticeship with Iron- workers Local 416 in the fall of 2009 and completed it five years later. She quickly showed herself to be more


than capable. By the third year of her apprenticeship Pruitt was being given the


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