Women Leaders Contribute to Workforce Development

Workforce Development
Published
Contact: Greg Zick
[email protected]
AVP, Workforce Development
(202) 266-8493

Eva Fryar

This article has been updated.

More women are working in the home building industry and taking on leadership roles to help combat the ongoing labor shortage. Eva Fryar has helped bring industry professionals and students together.

In her previous leadership role with the Professional Women in Business Council (PWBC) in St. Louis, Fryar helped pilot a local secondary schools construction management competition. Meeting the faculty from the local technical high schools helped open the lines of communication and eventually led to forming of an NAHB student chapter. The student chapter has become PWBC’s central focus and a pipeline transporting young men and women from high school to careers in home building.

“I absolutely love working in this industry,” says Fryar, Division President of Stepping Stone Homes, the second largest home builder in the greater Milwaukee area.

Named to ProBuilder’s 40 Under 40 in 2018, Eva Fryar has a list of accomplishments that made her stand out in the home building industry. She helped grow a start-up company into one of the largest home builders in St. Louis, chaired the PWBC, and served as a judge and project sponsor for NAHB secondary competitions at the International Builders’ Show. In addition, she raised $4 million through the St. Jude Dream Home project.

Fryar has always been a builder, starting with Legos as a child. She began in Civil Engineering at Purdue University but wanted something more hands-on. A career counselor suggested Construction Management, and although her initial reaction was But I’m a girl!, a summer spent rough framing and roofing houses had her hooked. After college, her first job was as a superintendent with a home builder.

“I constantly wanted to do more and learn more,” says Fryar.

In 2009, she joined Payne Family Homes (now Fischer Homes), a small start-up company and created an estimating/purchasing department from scratch. Later as VP of Construction Operations of the rapidly growing company, she oversaw purchasing/estimating, field construction and architecture, and worked closely with sales, land acquisition and accounting. She eventually joined Stepping Stone Homes.

NAHB has new videos to help promote women in the construction trades. Visit the workforce development resource page to download and share the videos.

Sponsored By

Builders Mutual logo

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Membership | Advocacy

Jul 02, 2025

From Disaster Relief to Challenging Gas Bans, HBAs are Making a Difference

Nearly two dozen HBAs received Association Excellence Awards for outstanding contributions they made on behalf of their members and communities in 2024.

Advocacy

Jul 01, 2025

One Big Beautiful Bill Act Will Spur Economic Growth

NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes issued the following statement after the Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Jul 02, 2025

Two or More Story Home Starts Rebound in 2024

Over half of new single-family homes built in 2024 were two or more stories, according the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). After declining in 2023, the share of homes started with two or more stories increased again in 2024, continuing the upward trend in place since 2020.

Economics

Jul 01, 2025

May Private Residential Construction Spending Dips

Private residential construction spending fell by 0.5% in May, marking the fifth straight month of decreases. This drop was primarily driven by reduced spending on single-family construction. Compared to a year ago, total spending was down 6.7%, as the housing sector continues to navigate the economic uncertainty stemming from ongoing tariff concerns and elevated mortgage rates.

Economics

Jul 01, 2025

Flat Job Openings for Construction

The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the May Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).