"One of these days Alice, ‘Boom’ right to the moon!" That was the memorable line Ralph Kramden would say to his wife, Alice, whenever she got the best of him on the TV show The Honeymooners. Our industry is predominantly male-dominated, but over the past several years we have been witnessing a trend where more women are entering into the material handling field. When I joined the Board of Directors in 2008, we had very few discussions in our meetings about women entering into our industry. In just a short seven years, this topic has become one of priority and MHEDA has been very active in advancing this issue. Here are some of the accomplishments and trends we are experiencing: First, we cannot have a conversation about women in our industry without acknowledging the MHEDA staff – nine of the most dedicated ladies you’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing and working with. Twenty years ago, MHEDA took a big step in naming Liz Richards as Executive Vice President. Over these years, Liz has assembled an incredible staff, and together they have built MHEDA into one of the most highly respected and envied trade associations, not just within the material handling industry, but other industries as well. This year I’ve also had the chance to work alongside some of the women at MHI- the Material Handling Industry’s association. Like MHEDA, these ladies are highly dedicated and work wonders for their members. MHEDA sponsors Classroom Day at the annual ProMat and Modex trade shows. And every year we see more and more female students attending these sessions with an interest in finding a career in material handling or industrial distribution. This past March at ProMat 2015, we hosted close to 300 students. It is estimated that between 30-40% of the […]