industry focus women in rigging & transport
“
In her blood
Linda Summars, president and owner of
FirstSling, grew up in the sling industry.
Her father owned Manchester Sling
in Houston and later founded United
Rigging & Wire Rope in Oklahoma City.
“We used to push all the furniture in
the living room up against the walls
and the riggers would all come over to
hand-splice cargo nets,” she remembers.
“I would tape the ends. I didn’t really
understand what we were making then
but I just loved being around it!”
After high school, Summars worked for
the company during the day and went
to college at night. In time she got more
involved with sling making crane and
heavy hauling customers, and a variety of
lifting products, including wire rope and
chain slings and large diameter wire rope
socketing for boom pendant lines and
mast raising lines for the oilfield. United
Rigging was the first manufacturer of
raising lines (used in raising masts for
oil drilling rigs) in Oklahoma, she says.
So, for about five years, she grew to love
the business of sling making and was less
concerned about getting a college degree.
And then things got tough.
“Daddy passed away at the age of 48 in
1981 and the decision was made for me,”
she says. “I had a little brother who was
only 9 years old and my mama had never
been gainfully employed, in other words,
she was a housewife.”
Through the years she has at times
felt intimated being a women in a man’s
world, but not very often. “I have been
blessed with so many good men that
helped me out and taught me the ropes,
no pun intended, over the years,” she says.
She has never really felt snubbed by
competitors or colleagues. “It would be
too easy to blame any of my failures on
my gender,” she says. “I’ve thought it
before, but I have never allowed myself
20 ACT july 2010
Nothing of any significance
in this world has ever been
”
built without a sling.
Linda Summars
First Sling
to say it or accept it. Besides, those times
have been so few.”
Summars says she realizes there have
been times that she got her foot in the
door because of her gender. “Maybe
it was a novelty back then, but my
experiences have been that once they get
to know you, that you know what you’re
talking about and that you’ll be honest
with them and work hard for them,
the vast majority of men will treat you
equally and fairly,” she says.
Summars is an entrepreneur and an
innovator. Five years ago she had an idea
for a better roundsling. “Over the years,
I had superintendents that banned them
from their projects because they said
they couldn’t inspect them,” she says.
“I became determined to pursue the
development of a transparent roundsling
cover that would put the roundsling right
in there with all the other B30.9 sling
standards, wire rope, chain, wire mesh,
synthetic rope and flat web.”
While there have been various warning
indicators developed over the years, they
were costly, unreliable and held outside
standardization, she says. “So I applied
for a patent and it has been the most
“
Frankly, I can never be
one of the boys. I’m
independent and that
helps. I go my own way and
follow my own path – so
I don’t get bogged down
with being rejected. This
industry is non-stop. You
”
either love it or leave it.
Myna Mungle
Gulf Coast Mats
exciting time in my rigging career,” she
says. “The Inspectable Roundsling has
given me the opportunity to work on an
old problem with new people.”
Summars says her children can quote
her by heart: “Nothing of any significance
in this world has ever been built without
a sling.”
As well, Summars is very proud that her
son Wyatt Summars has come to work
for the business. “So now the Inspectable
Roundsling has unknowingly paved the
way for the next generation of crane and
rigging families, mothers and sons.”
Hard work suits her
Myna Mungle, owner of Gulf Coast
Mats, grew up in Houston surrounded by
industry, and she says she understands
and respects what industrial businesses
contribute to a progressive society. “I’m
comfortable surrounded by hard work,”
she says, “The physical aspects and
challenges of making something provide
motivation for me.”
But then again, she never dreamed she’d
be so passionate about working in this
industry. “As a child I played with dolls
not trucks and cranes,” she says.
About five years ago she started looking
for a business opportunity that would
complement Kenco Bucket Trucks, which
is owned by her husband Kenny Mungle.
“Kenny mentioned the mats that his
customers used in transport. I researched
the business and started Gulf Coast Mats
in March 2008 and became certified as a
woman-owned business this year.” >22