Mechelle McNew is from Ponca City, Oklahoma.  Hired by Air System Components in 1990, Mechelle McNew serves as one of the female trailblazers in the sheet metal industry.  

 SMART SM Local 464 was chartered in 1997 as which time Mechelle was elected into office of Executive Board.  Over the years she also held position as Shop Steward and Vice-President over Local 464. In 2011, sister McNew was elected into the position of Business Manager/Financial Secretary Treasurer by her fellow members and currently holds that office into her now 3rd term. 

In 2016 SMART put together the International SMART Women committee that she chairs. Besides these duties, she also serves as a Labor side member of the SMART-SMACNA Partners in Progress Committee where she participates in promoting the unionized side of the sheet metal industry.

Sister McNew has played a big part in sparking the rise of women in the sheet metal industry, “I am humbled to be chosen to head this committee.  I urge every woman in the sheet metal trade to join – it’s important to know there are others who have been in the same position as you.  The more we can rely on each other’s prior experiences, the stronger we can become collectively and independently of each other.”