50 for 50,000

Why the Lowe's Foundation investing $50 million to prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers

It's all about the future. That's the spirit behind the Lowe's Foundation $50 million commitment over the next five years to prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers. The investment will come 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 US economy. Today, 85% of contractors report trouble finding skilled workers, and an estimated 546,000 new skilled tradespeople will be needed to meet demand in this year alone.

Janice Dupré, Lowe's Executive VP of Human Resources and Chair of the Lowe's Foundation, says with the skilled trades industry facing a labor crisis, the Foundation is poised to help. "[We want to] 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. 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."

The national Lowe's Foundation Gable Grants program recently started accepting 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 US. The Lowe's Foundation Gable Grants program also will aim to increase the number of young and diverse tradespeople, particularly from underrepresented and rural communities.