Rebuilding the foundations from the entrepreneurial sector

LleidaThere are women who not only pave the way, but build it to create a new mindset. And this is only possible with new foundations. Montse Pujol, from Mollerus, founder and CEO of the PMP Group, headquartered in Lleida with offices throughout the country, has spent twenty years transforming the way we understand construction from her factory in Les Borges Blanques. A building engineer and pioneer in the industrialization and sustainability of housing, she has become the first woman to preside over the Business Meeting in the Pyrenees in its more than thirty-five-year history. "It is a great honor to represent the business community of Lleida, and also a responsibility from a female perspective," she says. At this key event for the country's economic sector, Montse Pujol asserts that the underrepresentation of women in the business world is a recurring theme. But she admits that equality in the upper echelons is still a pipe dream. "It's often women who struggle to take on positions of responsibility; there's a societal expectation of them taking on roles," she observes.

"There are no men's jobs"

When it started, you could hear people saying "the girl" on the construction site. "When they called the office, they wanted to talk to one "I was a technician, and the technician was me." It's decades of hard work in a sector where women represent only 11% of the workforce. Conversely, nearly half of the 176 professionals on her team are women. "And why don't we find more! Women don't want to be installers..." There's still a lack of female role models. When the head of the PMP Group explains her work in schools in Lleida and asks who might want to go into this field, the girls don't raise their hands. They aren't drawn to engineering or construction-related trades. But she makes it clear that "there are no men's jobs; if the processes are adapted, with the necessary support, everyone can work everywhere."

leader in the concept of houses prêt-à-porterPrefabricated, efficient, and 100% customizable, Montse Pujol argues that we can no longer afford to build as we did centuries ago. Because of the labor shortage, the unavoidable need for environmental sustainability, the costs, the construction timelines… That's why her business is based on engineers and architects who design and factory workers who are trained to execute those designs.

Regarding the housing crisis, Montse Pujol is clear: the 214,000-home plan announced by the Catalan government is a frankly difficult challenge, but "we have to make up for lost time." "We have to eliminate bureaucracy, mobilize land through administrative channels by easing regulations, and prioritize the supply of social housing, which is key." Otherwise, she sees it as impossible to escape the current impasse. And, as her career demonstrates, the future is built if we want to build it.