The Lowe’s Foundation has selected 10 community-based nonprofits as Gable Grant recipients to enhance their skilled trades training programs. The grants are the latest investment in the Lowe’s Foundation’s five-year, $50 million commitment to support the training of 50,000 people for skilled trades careers. The home-improvement retailer says the grants will support students studying carpentry and construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and appliance repair.
“The skilled trades industry offers fulfilling and lucrative opportunities that are in high demand, with over half a million additional tradespeople needed this year in construction alone,” says Janice Dupré, Lowe’s executive vice president of human resources and chair of the Lowe’s Foundation. “These community-based nonprofits have proven their ability to recruit and train a high volume and high quality of tradespeople for America’s workforce. They are providing an essential service because they are launching careers, not just jobs.”
The 10 Gable Grant recipients received between $260,000 and $1 million. With the grants, Lowe’s Foundation’s roster of recipients has grown to 24 organizations in 25 states nationwide.
“Skilled trades built our country. But the rate we’re on, by 2050, there won’t be enough electricians to keep the lights on,” says LaToya Faustin, executive director of She Built This City, a Gable Grant recipient in Charlotte, North Carolina. “For many people, these careers represent a change in the direction of their lives because they’re empowered to say, ‘I can do this.’”
The 10 recipients include:
- She Built This City, Charlotte: The organization will use the grant to grow its training, hiring, and community service model with five new locations across North Carolina’s Piedmont region. The nonprofit’s goals include breaking down barriers for women and marginalized communities in the skilled trades. The organization will offer new curriculum and certifications, from aging-in-place to drone surveying.
- Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont, Charlotte: The nonprofit will scale its construction skills training program. The organization served more than 9,000 people in the Charlotte region in 2023.
- Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, Houston: The nonprofit will use the grant to expand its HVAC bridge class and occupational training course to eight cohorts over the next two years. The organization serves immigrants, refugees, and underserved populations and offers instruction for non-native English speakers.
- Centro Hispano, Provo, Utah: The organization will scale its electrician training program. The nonprofit’s skilled training is offered primarily in Spanish and helps place graduates with local employers.
- Chicago Women in Trades, Chicago: The nonprofit will increase its capacity to train women in electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and sheet metal trades.
- Florida Trade Academy, Tampa: The organization will expand its career and reentry education program to train incarcerated women and men. The 10-week, hybrid program provides nationally recognized credentials.
- The Master’s Apprentice, Denver: The nonprofit will use the grant to expand its tuition-free training program to recruit low-income students and offer stipends and OSHA-certified training to help students begin apprenticeships. The Master’s Apprentice also plans to acquire a larger facility to grow its capacity in the next two years.
- Accelerate Montana, Missoula: The organization will use the Gable Grant to expand its Job Site Ready construction trades program by deploying a mobile training unit to increase access for trainees in rural and tribal communities. The nonprofit will also diversify its training to include carpentry, sitework, foundations, and heavy equipment operation.
- Positive Workforce, New York City: The nonprofit will double the number of individuals it serves for training for entry-level and journeyman positions.
- West Virginia Women Work, Charleston: The organization will implement a Step Up for Women program to offer a multifaceted approach to career placement.
