Shelley Simpson's childhood dreams didn't include a job in the transportation industry.
Like most young girls, the 43-year-old said she was much more interested in playing with Barbie dolls than toy trucks. But after a steady climb through what has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, the highest-ranking woman at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., can imagine the possibilities when she looks at her 11-year-old twin daughters.
"They absolutely could have the best career inside this organization," Simpson said.
It's a vision Simpson wants other women to realize as well, which is why J.B. Hunt's chief marketing officer, executive vice president, and president of integrated capacity solutions and the trucking division, played a key role in the formation of an employee resource group called Growing and Retaining Outstanding Women. The program was in the developmental stages for two years and officially unveiled at the company's Lowell-based headquarters last October.
The group's mission, according to Simpson, is to attract, engage and help talented women reach their goals within the company, providing them with resources to help boost their careers and personal connection to J.B. Hunt. There are four pillars of J.B. Hunt's program: Recruiting and retaining women, professional development, community involvement, and collaboration and connection.
"I have a lot of passion around females and leadership," Simpson said. "Particularly when you're working in an industry that is more male dominated just by sheer nature of what we do. A lot of it comes down to education, connection and understanding what is really possible.
"We can have great, long careers and being a female is not something that would hold you back."
The message comes in an industry where women represent about 5 percent of its drivers and occupy 14 percent of management positions, according to Department of Labor statistics.
Ellen Voie, president of Women in Trucking, a nonprofit organization, said image has long been the biggest hurdle keeping more women from considering careers in transportation. Voie, who has an extensive background in transportation, often speaks to groups of women and asks how many imagined they'd work for trucking companies. She said it's rare to see anyone raise their hand.
"Most of us got here because they were in another position and either got promoted or were offered an opportunity," Voie said. "So our biggest challenge is saying there's great jobs here. Whether it's in dispatching or accounting or computers or whatever, there's great jobs in the trucking industry. We've got to get more women looking at trucking as a career potential."
Voie believes programs like Growing and Retaining Outstanding Women will help make it a reality. She said the transportation industry wants more women, pointing to research by the Harvard Business Review that indicated companies with the best records of promoting women outperform industry medians with overall profits 34 percent higher. But Voie said many need a road map to achieve it.
J.B. Hunt was able to kick off its program after consulting with other companies in and out of the industry about similar groups. Simpson said it didn't take long to realize there was a "hunger and thirst" for the program when initial membership started with about 200 employees.
J.B. Hunt's program has reached 318 members and is open to anyone, including men. Simpson said there are 42 men in the program, stressing that it may be geared toward women but "offers things anyone can use." Three men also are among the group's 17-member board.
There are regular programs like "Lunch with a Leader," where members have opportunities to interact with J.B. Hunt's executives. There was a networking event last fall and a program emphasizing how to succeed in interviews is in the works. There are also has small group settings, mixing members with similar backgrounds like new mothers, mothers with teenagers or young professionals.
"Our desire is to help women reach whatever their goals are," said Tami Allensworth, J.B. Hunt's vice president of transportation and president of the program's board. "Some aren't interested in becoming the next 'insert.' That's the beauty of GROW. It's growing and retaining of outstanding women and making you highly successful in whatever your goals are."
The program also has been active in community events, logging about 300 hours of community service since its inception.
Allensworth said the company is involved at the college level, too, emphasizing opportunities for women in supply chain and transportation. There's discussion about taking the education to the high school level, helping girls become aware of career possibilities at an earlier age.
Shannon Newton, the first female president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said people are generally unaware that a trucking company has accounting, human resources and engineering departments. So groups like Growing and Retaining Outstanding Women can do a better job of communicating that message to women, debunking the notion that the trucking industry is reserved for men.
"Programs like that help everyone," Newton said. "Young women who are aware of a program like that or have a mentor or see someone they go to church with or lives down the street have a successful career in trucking, they may choose to do that. ... That contributes to the well-being of the industry."
Newton believes progress is being made, pointing to the success of transportation company executives in the state like Simpson, ArcBest Corp. Chief Executive Officer Judy McReynolds and CalArk International Inc. CEO Rochelle Bartholomew, who was named the trucking industry's 2011 Influential Woman of the Year by Women in Trucking. But Newton said it still isn't an "accurate representation of the population and how many women are in the workforce."
Simpson admits there are times she's still the only female in the room, but is confident the impact of the GROW program is being felt in its first year at J.B. Hunt. Allensworth agreed. There are plans to continue to expand the GROW program, making it even more valuable for women within the company.
They have other far-reaching goals as well.
"I would like to see GROW be more than just a J.B. Hunt employee resource group," Allensworth said. "I would like to see GROW influence the industry and how we focus on growing and retaining outstanding women in an otherwise male-dominated industry."
SundayMonday Business on 06/28/2015