The Lowe's Foundation announced a $50 million commitment over the next five years to prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers through grants to community and technical colleges and community-based nonprofits. The new strategic focus addresses one of the most critical worker shortages currently facing the U.S. economy. Today, 85% of contractors report trouble finding skilled workers[1], and an estimated 546,000 new skilled tradespeople will be needed to meet demand in this year alone[2].

"With the skilled trades industry facing a labor crisis, the Lowe's Foundation is now poised to help train tens of thousands of qualified skilled tradespeople, giving each of them the opportunity to build a rewarding career and make lasting impacts in communities across the country," said Janice Dupré, Lowe's executive vice president of human resources and chair of the Lowe's Foundation. "We are bringing our network, our expertise and our resources to address this critical need and help ensure that the next generation of builders has the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the demands of our modern world."

Starting today, the national Lowe's Foundation Gable Grants program will accept applications for two-year grants to help build a sustainable infrastructure of innovative training programs to cultivate more job-ready tradespeople and address the skilled trades labor shortage throughout the U.S. The Lowe's Foundation Gable Grants program will also aim to increase the number of young and diverse tradespeople, particularly from underrepresented and rural communities.

The Lowe's Foundation will run two separate annual grant application cycles. The first cohort will focus on community and technical colleges with innovative skilled trades education programs for post-secondary aged adults. The application portal launches today and applications will be accepted until April 10, 2023. The second cohort will focus on community-based nonprofit organizations, and the application period will be announced in the second half of 2023. The Lowe's Foundation will host informational webinars on March 9 and March 22 for community and technical colleges that are interested in applying for a grant.

For more information, visit Lowes.com/Foundation.

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