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MT file photo Contractor, developer and real estate broker Diana Bilyeau works to interest more women in construction and development in Southern Oregon. Builder breaks gender barriers Diana Bilyeau encourages women to join real estate, building fields By PETER WONG Diana Bilyeu may be one of a kind in the Rogue Valley, but she doesn't want to be. Bilyeu is a Medford real estate broker, general contractor and developer. Many women are in real estate, but few are in construction of homes or other buildings -- and she's about the only one locally in development of subdivisions. Bilyeu wants to change all that, based on the attention she has received as the first woman to be named builder of the year by the Home Builders Association of Jackson County, a two-time finalist for the statewide award from the Oregon Building Industry Association, and vice chairwoman of the state Construction Contractors Board. "The advantage of another woman coming into the field now is in knowing that I've done it, and several other women here have done it, although they have not been as visible or vocal -- and I've been more active," she said. "That level of confidence is up a little bit. "There are not many mentors women have to follow. My advantage is that I've been in the work force within the industry, and people knew me and had confidence in me, although some of them were skeptical initially." She was licensed for real estate sales in Oregon almost 24 years ago and became a real estate broker in 1978. A decade later, after the retirement of the builder she worked with for a long time, Bilyeu established her own construction company. "Most of us have known for a long time that women and wives have been partners in the construction business," said Jim Nistler, a general contractor in Central Point. "However, while highly successful in her real estate endeavors, Diana has pioneered the fact that women really can build houses and do remodeling without us." In 1996 she initiated a women's parade of homes, four of them by general contractors such as herself, and two others by wives who spent years working in association with husbands who are licensed builders. Bilyeu said the next step for her was to progress toward development of residential subdivisions, which she has done in Phoenix with the 72-home Avalon Park Estates and 36-home Arborwood Park Estates. The 24-home Old England Estates on Colver Road is her latest project. She said development requires not only professional skills but personal persuasiveness because of the involvement of planners, planning commissions and sometimes city councils. "Development has been a different animal," she said. "If you go out and put together a nice home, you follow the codes but you are dealing only with the public. When you deal with development, you are dealing with personalities." Ironically, she said, women often demand more from her projects than men do. Bilyeu said she encourages more women to consider careers in real estate, construction and development in a variety of ways. She speaks at high schools, Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University. "Because of your willingness to take time from your life to share your views, methods and concerns with students, they now have a much clearer view of what awaits them as women in the area of management," wrote Carol Nemec, an SOU assistant professor who conducted a course about women and management. Bilyeu also helps the Job Council teach women how to obtain jobs, and is a speaker at Southern Oregon Women's Access to Credit. "This field gives women an opportunity to make decent wages," she said. She said she would like to establish on-site training in construction, which is available in the Willamette Valley but not in Southern Oregon. She said it also would help men who seek to enter the field. "For someone to acquire the skills to be considered `skilled labor,' that person has to travel north -- or out of state -- to attend a school for training," she said. "This is more so for women. Men can start as laborers, knock at the door, and they are more apt to be hired if someone needs them. You do not see women out there hammering and putting roofs on houses." She is working with Jeld-Wen Corp. in Klamath Falls to develop a program. As a member of the Construction Contractors Board since 1994, Bilyeu also is working toward upgrading training and continuing education requirements and doing more against unregistered contractors. Bilyeu said she's had strong support from her husband of 38 years, Clyde, who is retired from the Navy and the Medford School District. She said she's also needed personal strength. "You have to be tenacious," she said. "Anyone in the business of development has to be that way -- and women even more so because the bar for us seems to be higher." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA