For the first time, SMACNA has picked a woman for its Contractor of the Year. 

Angela Simon, the president of Western Allied Mechanical in Menlo Park, California, was given the award at last week’s convention in Phoenix. 

“This year’s contractor is a construction firm president and a mechanical contractor who is not satisfied sitting on the sidelines,” said Guy Gast, 2015-16 president of the Sheet Metal and Air-Conditioning Contractors’ National Association. “She has taken a leadership role for years and willingly serves on committees and task forces doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Just as SMACNA is dedicated to bringing young people into the association, Angie has established an exceptional mentoring program at her company where the interns are involved in a project from start to finish.

“Helping women develop into leadership roles is one of SMACNA’s initiatives and Angie stepped up to co-chair SMACNA’s Women in Construction Leadership Council, getting the fledgling group off to a solid start,” Gast said.

Besides serving on many association committees and councils, she is a member of SMACNA’s College of Fellows, a Summit Circle level contributor to the New Horizons Foundation, and a contributor to SMACNA’s political action committee.

“We are recognizing her today not because she’s a woman, but because she is the right and most deserving person for this award,” Gast said. 

The first female president of the Bay Area SMACNA chapter, she has been a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers since 1984. Simon graduated from California Polytechnic State University in 1986 with a degree in mechanical engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in California. She started at Western Allied as a project manager in 1987.

Simon and her husband Michael have two college-age sons, Alex and Ben.