Women in Business and Leadership Forum

Bryn Mawr, PA – October 13, 2017 – Two accomplished women in male-dominated industries will be featured at the second Women In Business and Leadership Symposium event “We Shape the Skyline."

The event will be held at Harcum College’s Bryn Mawr Campus, 750 Montgomery Avenue in Bryn Mawr, on Thursday, November 9 at 3 p.m. in the Strauss Family Rotunda of the Trout Library. It is free and open to the
public. Registration is strongly encouraged. Register online at harcum.edu/lecture.

Part of the new Academic Internship initiative at Harcum, the event is sponsored by Academic Affairs and hosted by Jim Miller, Academic Internship Director.

The panelists are Emily Bittenbender, President of Bittenbender Construction, the largest women-owned general contractor in Philadelphia, and Lynn Everhart, Principal of DEDC and manager of its Philadelphia office. DEDC is a privately owned, full service multi-disciplined national engineering and design firm with offices in Philadelphia and Newark, DE. Bittenbender Construction was ranked #2 by the Philadelphia Business Journal for Largest Women-Owned Businesses in the Philadelphia region.

Bittenbender’s career focus has been the design, construction and renovations of public buildings and spaces. As Philadelphia’s first Capital Program Director for the CPO, she was charged with the responsibility of
bringing private sector business practices to the city and completed $454 million of capital projects in 3 ½ years’ time.

In January 2000, Bittenbender was hired as the Vice President of Design & Construction for the National Constitution Center to lead a team in the design and construction of a $137M museum in Independence Mall.

After the completion of the National Constitution Center in 2003, she started Bittenbender Construction, LP, a commercial general contractor and construction management firm specializing in the new construction
and renovations of museums and historic sites, retail, higher education and corporate fit out projects. Her firm is the only woman owned, union affiliated general contractor in the local area.

In 2015, The Philadelphia chapter of the General Building Contractors Association named Bittenbender as its new chairwoman. She is the first female to hold the top post in the organization's 124-year history. Her
awards and recognition include The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Excellence Award for Small Business Person of the Year in 2011 and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Paradigm Award in 2016.

Everhart has been at DEDC for seventeen years and was responsible for the start-up of DEDC’s Philadelphia office. Founded in 1965, DEDC offers in house expertise in mechanical HVAC, electrical, plumbing,
process/chemical, structural and instrumentation/control engineering, and Commissioning design services.

As manager of the Philadelphia office, Everhart is responsible for office, staff, account and project management, strategic planning, and client development.

Recent DEDC projects include Temple University Howard Gittis Student Center Renovation, Philadelphia Museum of Art Asian Art Gallery Renovation design, Philadelphia City Hall Entrance Lighting Upgrade, and
United Gas International headquarters in Reading, Pennsylvania.