Manjimup-raised woman recognised with prestigious award for her commitment to the construction industry

A Manjimup-raised woman has been recognised for her outstanding commitment to the construction industry, after going above and beyond to deliver essential projects across the health sector. Trudy Grimshaw received the Excellence in Construction Award at the Women in Industry awards night earlier this year for her consistent and outstanding demonstration of women in leading roles in the industry. “I’m pretty blown away by it all really,” she said. “I think I’ve become more aware of how prestigious the award is and I’m just really delighted. “I think it’s a fantastic thing for the public sector to be recognised in such a public way in delivering amazing services to the community.” Currently the senior project director on the Bunbury Hospital Redevelopment, Ms Grimshaw found her calling in construction through a winding road of career choices. After graduating from Manjimup Senior High School, Ms Grimshaw studied art education at Curtin University, spending several years working in Bridgetown and other locations before moving into an office role within the Department of Education. “I think I wanted to have a bigger, broader influence on the world — you know how you do when you’re young — so I moved into head office to do some change management,” she said. Ms Grimshaw then moved into training and development, government procurement, and then into construction with the Department of Finance. “I think if I knew about construction when I was a teenager I would have jumped at it at the time because it’s just a such an amazing thing to be doing,” she said. “It’s exciting and it’s challenging and you see the outcome of all of your efforts. “It’s been a journey. The public sector is a pretty amazing place to work . . . just offers such a huge range of opportunity to advance and to change your career and to follow your interests.” Ms Grimshaw said her main advice to young people looking to enter the industry is to “be curious”. “I reckon there’s something about being curious, being interested in what the job you are doing can offer,” she said. “It’s finding something, no matter what the work is, that really is important to you and can get you out of bed and want you to get into work each day. “You’ve got to be brave enough to take the risk and you’ve got to back yourself to say you’ll solve the problems when you get there.” Ms Grimshaw said she encourages young people, especially women, to get involved in the construction industry. “There’s a role for young people and for women in particular in this sector and there’s growing presence of women in the sector,” she said. “Having a trade will take you anywhere . . . having expertise in industry will allow you to go to Canada, to Europe, wherever because it will put you in good stead for those opportunities.” Ms Grimshaw also emphasised the importance of education. “It gives you the ability to think and introduces you to a bigger world and I think that really underpins everything,” she said. “I think Manjimup Senior High School often excels its performance in terms of their overall success and student success and I think that that is the basic of being able to develop those skills that I reckon can be applied to everything.”