Valérie Maronne: "The Federation is a support for its members"

A strong moment, a moment of passing the torch, of gratitude and emotion. On September 13, 2019, Valérie Maronne took over from Sylvie Mentor, who had led this Femmes du BTP group with passion for 15 years. Honoured and determined by this role, the outgoing president says: "Determined to highlight women in building and public works, and to create a dynamic, caring, training community where everyone would have their place — whether manager or employee, business owner or future buyer."

Valérie Maronne : « La Fédération est un soutien pour ses adhérents »

Six months later, in March 2020, came the lockdown of the health crisis. A question arose: How to unite in such circumstances? Remembering this special period, she adds: "Alone in the face of uncertainty and contradictory orders, we had to keep our businesses running because the BTP was an essential activity for the life of the Nation, and we were asked to work and adapt."

Since then, the front-line workers and leaders have returned to the background... Only one thing mattered to me at that time: keeping the bond. We were in the dark, with our teams, our responsibilities, our worries.

But we held fast. And above all, we stood united... and we learned to host our meetings by videoconference, which was not always easy!"

Valérie Maronne also, five and a half years later, praised the actions of the Fédération, which supported its members: "Present, reactive, committed. It accompanied us, informed us, reassured us, and above all, it never left us alone. This episode, which should have hindered the start of my term, acted as a founding moment."

HEALTH CRISIS Because the bond continued to strengthen, and our group continued to move forward and see its ranks grow.

I have great anecdotes from it... and a few stressful moments too." Another anecdote told by the outgoing president: "Like the day when over 40 people were registered for a meeting on the finance bill, and Jean-Louis Mermillon, director of tax affairs at the FFB, announced that his train was cancelled due to a strike.

Panic? No. We could count on a dynamic duo who stepped in at short notice: Marc Isidore, at the time head of Urssaf in Toulon, and Isabelle Masse, department head and facilitator of social clauses at the Maison de l'Emploi, who spoke to us about subcontracting and integration clauses.

Long live friendship and networking! Another memorable memory: the presentation by Arnaud Pouly, Director of the DDETS du Var, who introduced us to business support schemes — in short, the good side of the DDETS, the one supporting the economy" (...)