Lowe’s continues to support SkillsUSA
Lowe’s and SkillsUSA today announced that the retailer will support 1,200 high school students focused on the construction trade with a donation of more than $200,000 in tools to help launch their careers.
Students will also be competing at the SkillsUSA Championships this week in Atlanta, Ga.
For more than 20 years, Lowe’s has partnered with SkillsUSA, a nonprofit educational association focused on ensuring that America has a skilled workforce, through more than $20 million in student grants, product donations and event participation.
From the national championships to state and local-level support, Lowe said that it puts resources and tools into the hands of SkillsUSA members to help them learn a skilled trade and improve their local schools and communities.
“We want to congratulate these students who have participated in their local, state and now national events at the SkillsUSA Championships,” said Tony Hurst, Lowe’s senior vice president of Pro, services & international. “As a longstanding partner of SkillsUSA and their efforts to support the growth of skilled trades, we want to make sure future Pros have the tools and resources they need to help them get a jump-start on their careers.”
Earlier this year, Lowe’s provided more than $300,000 in support to each of the 64 SkillsUSA state and local associations to support state-level 2022 TeamWorks and Carpentry competitions.
Lowe’s has also provided $250,000 in SkillsUSA chapter grants to schools seeking to upgrade their career and technical education (CTE) program tools and equipment or to conduct local community service projects.
“The incredible support Lowe’s has provided to SkillsUSA state associations and local chapters this year has, in turn, supported quality career and technical education and hands-on learning,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis. “All SkillsUSA efforts are student-led, centered around the development of personal skills, workplace skills and technical skills grounded in academics through the SkillsUSA Framework, so every member has an opportunity for career success."
Travis noted that the Lowe’s grants have removed financial barriers to excellence and ensured quality resources for the betterment of programs and projects.
As skilled trades students look for jobs, the new Generation T Online Career and Training Portal is just one way Lowe’s will continue to support them and aim to support Lowe’s Pro service providers.
Generation T is a movement that brings together more than 80 companies aiming to raise awareness and shift the societal perception of skilled trades careers by exposing people to the benefits of a trade education and career options beyond four-year degree programs. In 2021, the movement reached more than 1.8 million people through online education, in-person events, and virtual learning opportunities.
For Lowe's associates, Track to the Trades, a company-funded pre-apprentice certificate program, will also help more than 4,000 part-time and full-time Lowe’s associates pursue careers in the skilled trades each year.