RWC

By sharing Starr Delgado’s, Kim Yeagley’s and Anna Pearson’s stories, RWC aims to highlight more diverse perspectives in plumbing.  

Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) is a leading manufacturer of premium branded plumbing products, valves, secondary pipe supports, fire-stopping solutions, DWV testing and fluid control technologies for residential and commercial applications.

Women in Construction (WIC) Week, originally founded in 1953 by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), was created to support women working in the industry. The week has grown over the years, successfully amplifying women’s voices to the point where many construction and manufacturing companies have also turned their attention to celebrating and supporting women in the trade. RWC is one of them.

“By supporting women in construction, we can create a more inclusive industry and attract new talent to fulfill the increasing number of open positions within the trades,” said Emily Connell, Director of Brand Marketing & Communications for RWC Americas. “RWC and its family of brands understand the importance of supporting diverse talent, including women, especially within the plumbing trade.”

Plumbing professionals, such as Starr Delgado, Kim Yeagley and Anna Pearson, have been overcoming plumber stereotypes for years. Emily Connell

Yeagley, the owner of Gold Canyon Plumbing in Arizona, has been in plumbing for 15 years.

“At first, I wasn’t sure how guys were going to accept me,” she said. “People doubt that I know my plumbing, but once I start talking shop, that’s how I win everyone over.”

Pearson, a plumbing apprentice at A-Better Plumbing in Las Vegas, wants to show the world that plumbers are all sorts of different people from various walks of life. To help demonstrate that, she uses her social media platforms, where she’s affectionately known as the Plumbing Princess, to document her journey and promote the plumbing trade.

“Genuinely, I want people to join the trades,” Pearson said. “I want it to be a growing industry again.”

Delgado, a plumbing instructor at HBI Job Corps Plumbing Program in North Grafton, Massachusetts, offered advice to women looking to enter the trades.

“There’s always going to be challenges for women in the field,” she said. “People are always going to say, you can’t, you shouldn’t or don’t, but if you say, ‘I’m going to, I can and I will’ and stay focused, you can do it. You just have to have some thick skin. Being a plumber is an amazing career to be in.”

RWC is doing its part to support women in plumbing by showcasing their talent and sharing their stories. The company plans to continue sharing similar stories to reach and inform the younger generation and diverse talent pools, in hopes that they begin to see the opportunities of pursuing a career in the trades.

“We will keep supporting women in plumbing by giving them a platform to share their stories,” Connell added. “We need to hit the labor shortage head-on, and we can do so by ensuring everyone feels welcome in the trades and by defeating common stereotypes associated with plumbers. Part of achieving that includes telling authentic stories, changing people’s perception of the trade and helping to create a more inclusive environment.”

A female plumber’s tale sheds light on the fulfilling career to be had in the trades 

As Careers in Construction Month draws to a close, Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) is committed to continuing its investment in the national initiative, which recognizes talent and career development opportunities throughout the building trades. Designed to engage prospective skilled laborers as well as current professionals, RWC remains focused on inspiring others to seek a career in the trades.

With a well-documented passion for this initiative – including its national partnership with the Home Builders Institute (HBI) which was announced at IBS 2021 – RWC has a continuous drive to learn as much as possible to help increase the talent pool. After recent participation in HBI’s Industry Workforce Roundtable, the biggest takeaway was clear: an undeniable need for increased industry diversity.

In a category with unfulfilled positions and untapped opportunities, RWC is doing its part to help by identifying and showcasing diverse talent, sharing their stories to inform and inspire others to start their career in plumbing. And through the partnership with HBI, RWC met Starr Delgado, a certified plumber and plumbing instructor at HBI’s Job Corps Plumbing Program.

Overcoming personal and professional challenges – including dropping out of school – led Delgado to pursue a career that could help to support her family. After researching career paths and identifying plumbing as the ultimate solution, Delgado began taking plumbing courses at HBI and was inspired by her plumbing instructor to come back years later to teach. Today, she owns her own home, her own car and supports her family through her plumbing career.

“The most rewarding thing for me is the students,” said Delgado. “You get to give back…the hardest of the hardest kids come through these doors, and they turn out to be something amazing.”

When asked about her experiences as an industry-leading woman and the advice she would give to others, she stated, “There’s always going to be challenges for women in the field. People are always going to say you can’t or you shouldn’t or don’t. But if you say I’m going to, I can and I will, you can do it. You just have to have some thick skin.”

By breaking through the stereotypes associated with plumbers, Delgado was able to achieve all that she wanted: the ability to support her family and a career she could be proud of. RWC plans to continue sharing similar stories to reach the younger generation, as well as diverse groups, in the hopes that they begin seeing the opportunities that could be had by pursuing a career in the trades.

John Guest, part of the Reliance Worldwide Corporation family of brands, turns 60 in 2021, celebrating a long history of delivering advanced plumbing technology, quality products and innovative solutions to a diverse range of industries. Over the years, John Guest’s push-fit plumbing products have paved the way for better drink dispense, water filtration, air and pneumatics, telecoms, automotive and OEM solutions.

“With more than 1 billion fittings installed and in use worldwide, John Guest is a leader in the plastic push-to-connect category,” said Ted Antony, fluid tech marketing specialist at RWC. “OEMs choose us because we’re known for providing reliable products, offering strong process controls, meticulous testing and adherence to required approvals.”

The company’s founder, John Guest, was determined to run a company where quality of product and excellence of service was ingrained in its culture. From the company’s start in the 1960s, he encouraged a strong spirit of innovation, which led to the invention of the first push-fit connection in the 1970s by Guest himself. This technology, later known as Speedfit, made connections quicker, easier and more reliable than ever. Since then, the push-fit fittings have been developed for a wide range of applications.

To continue Guest’s legacy of producing reliable products and excellent service, the company maintains strict control over its entire engineering and manufacturing process, ensuring only products of the highest quality are produced. The company manages the product’s entire journey from its initial concept, to tool design and construction, to product manufacturing and finally assembly and testing.

“All of our fittings share precision engineering, a feature for which John Guest is renowned,” Antony said. “Whether you’re drinking a glass of water, getting your teeth cleaned at the dentist or getting your car washed, you’ve probably already experienced our products.”

60 years of maintaining customer satisfaction and providing high-quality solutions makes John Guest one of the top options for OEMs and installers. Having established and maintained a powerful legacy of anticipating the industry’s future and providing solutions OEMs can stake their reputations on, John Guest continues to serve the industry technology they can trust.

Its parent company, RWC, is also celebrating John Guest’s anniversary this year. After acquiring the brand in 2017, RWC became one of the world’s leading manufacturers of plastic and metal push-fit fittings, pipe and valves.

Learn more about John Guest at johnguestusa.com.

Organizations will work together to emphasize career opportunities in the trades

Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC), a leading manufacturer of premium branded push-to-connect plumbing products, valves, secondary pipe supports, firestopping solutions and fluid control technologies, is partnering with Home Builders Institute (HBI), a national leader in career training for the building and construction industry, as the exclusive Trade Sponsor for its 22 plumbing programs across the U.S., primarily serving Job Corps students and justice-involved individuals.

These HBI programs provide students with the skills, experience and placement services they need to have a successful career while helping the trade address labor shortages.

“We are thrilled to engage with HBI and believe this is the beginning of an important, long-lasting partnership,” said Chris Carrier, Marketing Director, Americas at RWC. “HBI’s ability to connect, train and place potential new talent into the trade makes them an ideal partner. Not only do we see this as an opportunity to help our trade, but also an opportunity to help the local communities that these programs are in.”

This partnership was a natural opportunity for RWC to double down on its commitment to promote and further the plumbing trade after its Careers in Construction Month efforts, through its SharkBite® and HoldRite® brands, in October.

“Our diverse product portfolio enables us to produce solutions that are designed to help plumbing contractors work more efficiently in the field,” Carrier continued. “In our conversations with them, we’ve recognized the need to help the trade address its labor challenge.”

HBI’s programs help approximately 10,000 students each year receive real life, hands-on training and find meaningful careers in the trades. HBI also provides them with job placement and transition assistance, and qualified graduates are able to enter advanced training programs to expand their education and experience.

“Home Builders Institute is proud to welcome our new partner, Reliance Worldwide Corporation,” said HBI President and CEO Ed Brady. “Together, we are training the next generation of skilled labor for the building industry. As HBI’s exclusive Trade Sponsor of our plumbing programs, RWC will provide its excellent products to help train our students in 22 locations nationwide. In the process, they will develop customers for life as our graduates enter the industry. I look forward to working with RWC and to seeing how the many resources they bring to the table will help enhance our training programs and ensure the future success of our students.”

To further discuss this partnership during IBSx – the 2021 International Builders Show – please visit RWC or HBI’s exhibits. Learn more about RWC and its family of brands.