POSITIVE: Owner of Vic Restorations Building Services Amy O'Neill. Picture: JODIE DONNELLAN
OPPORTUNITIES for women in the building industry are growing, Castlemaine business owner Amy O’Neill says.
Ms O’Neill represented the Mount Alexander Shire region at a recent National Rural Women’s Conference in Canberra that focussed on business initiatives for women across the country.
As a co-owner of Vic Restorations, a local building and renovation business specialising in heritage restoration, she said she saw a bigger future for women in the industry.
“It has been very male-dominated in the past,” she said. “That is changing. I think it takes a certain kind of girl to want to get involved, it’s not for everyone. But the opportunities are out there.”
“I’d like to show the next generation that you can pretty much do whatever you set your mind to.”
Ms O’Neil has strong connections in the Castlemaine business community through voluntary work and employment.
She juggles managing Vic Restorations with work in the Chamber of Commerce, coaching netball and serving on a football club committee.
Ms O’Neil said her attendance at the National Rural Women’s Conference had given her a greater understanding of how other women were making their contribution to the community.
“I’m looking to do more speeches at women’s days events and other initiatives,” she said.
The National Rural Women’s Conference was established in 2002 in a bid to ensure better social and economic outcomes for rural women.