WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION – CONCRETE PUMPING INDUSTRY
ACPA president Beth Langhauser
discovers dynamic opportunities
in concrete pumping industry
Florida Construction News special feature
B eth Langhauser, the first woman
president of the American Con-
crete Pumping Association (ACPA),
says she had a somewhat unconven-
tional start to her construction indus-
try career. However, Langhauser,
owner of Midwest Placing, says the
dynamic nature of the business and
the people she has met along the way
have cemented her to the industry.

“I had a degree in communication
and came to Midwest as a temp 20
years ago while I looked for my future
career,” she said. “I started in the of-
fice and have been here ever since.”
Langhauser says the owner of the
company at the time opened the
doors to the business and future op-
portunities. She says she began at-
tending seminars, learning about the
industry from jobsite to operations,
and took classes to fill in what she
needed to know.

She says she was never treated
poorly at any point in her career. How-
ever, in her early years, she appreci-
ated she was working in a male
dominated field, where women were
unexpected. “There has not been a significant
change in this but where before I
would attend a conference and be the
only woman present, now there may
be several women in the room,” she
said. She indicates she is happy to see
younger people are entering the in-
dustry. “Our industry is made up of a
lot of family businesses and we’re
starting to see the (millennial) sons,
and daughters, taking over, which is
great.” She says the concrete pumping in-
dustry gets in your blood – both be-
cause of the customers and the tight
knit community. Working with heavy
equipment and complex mixing sci-
ence can be challenging depending
on the job, but the work is also re-
warding when you succeed, she said.

Langhauser said the concrete
pumping industry is a great industry
for any woman because of its oppor-
tunities and potential. She has a niece
currently considering her career op-
tions. “Construction is an opportunity
often ignored by women but there is
so much potential,” and she hopes
the young woman will consider the
career. The best way to get started is “look
into internships, find a way to get into
the field to see what it is really all
about,” she said.

Florida Construction News — SPRING 2017 – 19